When he walked across the Berger Performing Arts Center stage in 1992, Steven Dewakuku received his high school diploma from The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
As part of the first ASDB class to celebrate graduation at Berger, Dewakuku also played drums in the Berger Performing Arts Center.
Dewakuku, who is visually impaired, remembered how cool the building was and when ASDB announced earlier this year it would close its west side campus and move to Oro Valley, the fate of the Berger Center was up in the air.
Now, the site of many ASDB musicals, local concerts, plays and more has signed a one-year agreement to partner with Saguaro City Music Theatre.
The building is a smooth fit for the nonprofit theater company started in 2021, which uses the Berger Center’s accessibility and parking for its student shows, featuring actors and musicians with disabilities.
Berger was built in 1991 and holds nearly 500 people. It was used last week for ASDB’s graduation ceremony.
Saguaro offers tuition-free inclusive arts education to kids ages 7 to 17, and up to 40% of them have mobility, auditory and visual impairments, Humphrey said.
“We are really trying to keep our organization barrier-free cost-wise and have programming that is able to adapt to children of all abilities,” Drew Humphrey, Saguaro’s CEO and producing artistic director, told Arizona Luminaria.
“We would have to change 90% of our business model if we went somewhere else,” Humphrey said. “We have 63 kids coming for summer camp this month and we can only do that because of the way the Berger is structured. We can have children with mobility issues that are able here to get from front of house to backstage without having to go through an elevator or navigate stairs, so that’s crucial.”
If Saguaro had to find another venue, it would have had to shift down to serving about 20 to 30 kids, he said.
Saguaro has 44 entities that have reached out about booking or confirming bookings for next year, Humphrey said.
First up for Saguaro will be a production of “The Addams Family,” which runs June 26-28. Then, the new space could allow Saguaro to add an additional production next season, Humphrey added.
He’s grateful to keep telling stories and knows the building and the theatre will need support. “No matter what a child’s diagnosis is, no matter what a child’s developmental issue, it might be shyness even, what they’re not lacking is their ability to understand a story and to tell a story. And when you unlock that, it does feel like a little bit of a magic trick.”
Dewakuku, now 53, recalled how enchanting it was when he first entered the building as a teen.
“I remember the school saying that this will be a performing arts center and will have all the bells and whistles installed for that time,” he said. “It’s a beauty. It has real good acoustics in there. The theater used to have a baby grand piano too.”
Teacher raises begin July 1
Teachers are getting a $3,000 raise after the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board unanimously approved the move at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Just over $12 million from taxpayers will go to teachers, including a 4% raise for substitute teachers, after voters approved a $45 million override last year.
A key part of the override was the money making its way to educators, who currently make about $15,000 below the national average.
A new teacher starting with base pay will now make $51,400 a year compared to $48,400 before the raise, TUSD Chief Financial Officer Ricky Hernández said Tuesday night.
Free summer meals for students are here
At least four area school districts will offer free meals to students this summer.
TUSD has free breakfast and lunch at more than 50 schools, community centers and other locations. Hours vary at each. Find menus and more information here.
The Sunnyside, Flowing Wells and Marana Unified School Districts will each offer breakfast and lunch. Find locations and times at each link above.
Get free food with a $120 grocery voucher from the Arizona Department of Education. Families can check their eligibility for the SUN Bucks program here.
Read the whiteboard
☎️ An upgrade to the TUSD phone system means the phones are down. The district says phones should be restored by June 1. Visit school websites for contact info.
🎓 Actor Harrison Ford told Arizona State graduates to “build something that didn’t exist yesterday.”
👩🏽🎓 Arizona Western College awards a record 3,200 credentials.
💰 Student loan borrowers must choose a new way of repaying loans by July 1 or the government will find one for them.
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