Oregon School for the Deaf gets an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

From The Statesman-Journal in Salem, Ore.:

Not everyone heard the bus coming, despite its horn blaring, but once they saw the bright red vehicle there was pandemonium.

Students and staffers at the Oregon School for the Deaf squealed with joy and fluttered their hands in the air Monday as TV star Ty Pennington (pictured) crashed their barbecue celebrating the school’s 140th anniversary.

The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” star revealed the show will remodel the basement of Lindstrom Hall, where the school’s popular haunted house is staged each Halloween, and also build the first phase of a new dormitory.

“We know the Nightmare Factory is pretty cool and that you depend on it every year to keep the school funded,” Pennington said. “Instead of just building a house, we’re going to built an ‘Extreme’ haunted house.”

“Are you guys ready? I think it’s going to get a little scary.”

The crowd responded by fluttering their hands above their heads, and that visual applause became a trademark for the day. Pennington and the celebrity design team — Paige Hemmis, Johnny Littlefield and Michael Moloney — were seen many times following the lead of the students and staff.

Moloney also took the time, in between posing for photos, to learn a few signs from some of the kids.

There was plenty of downtime on the campus-turned-movie set. The arrival was filmed three times, for example, each with a little less oomph. But the camera crews for the ABC reality television show had to make sure they had every possible angle covered.

During the third take, after listening to instructions through his earpiece, Pennington turned to OSD interpreter Sandra Gish and said:
“Are you signing everything I say? So there’s no filter?”

Pennington realized Gish was even interpreting his interactions with the production crew.

Interpreters were scattered all over the grounds to make sure students and their visiting families didn’t miss a thing during the whirlwind of activity on the northeast Salem campus.

The “braveheart” march and speech got under way just before dusk as the cast, builders and volunteers, all wearing blue T-shirts and hard hats, huddled in the grassy field where the new dorm will be constructed.

Several members of the Willamette University football team were among the throng, as was a large group of people representing the school, including administrators Patti Togioka, Matthew Boyd and Sharla Jones.

“I’m so happy for everyone here,” Boyd said. “They deserve it. They’ve earned it.”
The school already had plans to build a new dorm and eventually move students out of Lindstrom Hall. Part of the building is currently uninhabitable because of seismic issues.

“We’re just jumpstarting the process and giving them an energy-efficient building,” said Rich Duncan, the general contractor in charge of the project.

He and his crew of volunteers got to work at 7:57 p.m. — three minutes ahead of schedule — cutting trees, installing utilities and putting in a new road. The 400-foot section will enter campus from the northwest, near where the dorm will be built.

“There’s no demo,” Duncan said, “but there’s a lot of site preparation.”

In keeping with the tradition of the show, “Extreme Makeover” will send a group of about 120 people from the school — students, family members and staff — on vacation during the weeklong construction. They leave today for Minneapolis, Minn., where they will be special guests of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Show producers said the kids are in for some surprises once they get there, but were mum on the details.

Representatives of the foundation, founded by former Oregon resident Bill Austin, were on campus Monday to help with travel arrangements. They also will provide activities and programs throughout the week for those students who do not make the trip.

There were hints on site that five families, with students enrolled at the school, will be highlighted during the program, which is scheduled to air during the show’s upcoming eighth season this fall.

Chances are Salem’s episode will fall around Halloween, with the haunted house connection.

The secret of the location was out in the community long before the “Extreme Makeover” bus came through the back entrance of the campus — there were multiple Ty sightings reported — but the surprise was real for many students and staff of the school.

“Nobody knew,” said Sandra Gish, staff interpreter who spent some quality time on a crowded stage with Pennington. “Innocence, it’s the way of the interpreter. We wait until it happens and then follow along.”

Miles Barbee, the high school student body president, was just as surprised. He said seeing the “Extreme Makeover” bus in person, not just on TV, was exciting.

Barbee has been involved in the haunted house since he came to OSD five years ago. He most recently played the role of the scary clown and is sure this year’s Nightmare Factory will be the biggest and best yet.

“Everyone’s going to want to come see what ‘Extreme Makeover’ does,” Barbee said, through an interpreter. “I’m glad to be an OSD student and for this to happen my senior year.”

Staff members aren’t sure the students — the school has an enrollment of about 115 — really comprehend what the school is in for. Maybe the staff doesn’t, either.
“Life as we know it is never going to be the same,” said Jan Sykes, who has worked at the school for 30 years. “Everybody is going to know us.

“More than the structures — those are going to be awesome and will really get the kids’ attention — but equally important to that is being recognized in the state and in the nation. This will put us on the map. This will help strengthen our community.”