Bishop Union High School

Bishop Union High School Auditorium Improvement Project

Our Mission

To develop the Bishop Union High School auditorium into a functional and inspiring performance space by buying and installing audio equipment, projection and video streaming capability, smarter lighting and improving stage setup and safety.

Your donation

Experiencing live performance is a tradition that has united communities in joy, creativity, and expression for all of human history.

Your donation will keep this tradition alive by going directly to buying and installing new audio and lighting equipment for the auditorium.

Donations will make it possible for our students to learn about audio and video production, participate in theatre, debate club, band, choir, and so much more. It will improve the school’s ability to host our educational presentations, movie nights, award ceremonies, and panel discussions, and make all of these events more accessible to all. It will make it possible to record performances or even stream them live for friends and family who can’t attend in person, especially helpful in our remote location.

With an improved theatre space, we can attract more visiting talent and deepen the variety of creative and cultural experiences that adults and kids have access to.

Donor money has already replaced the soundboard and removed dangerous and ineffective hardware. Help us keep it going!

About our school district and auditorium

At 420 seats, Bishop Union’s auditorium provides the only large performance space in the entire Eastern Sierra. Our other schools, as well as the larger community, have no other indoor theater space in the hundreds of miles of Inyo and Mono Counties.

The auditorium is an invaluable resource for the region. Almost any kind of imaginable event has been held there, from professional panel discussions and community theater to judicial court. Children in private and home schools benefit from the stage through participating in the annual Missoula Children’s Theatre and Playhouse 395.

Unfortunately, the auditorium is aging and has very little equipment, and the equipment it does have is many decades old. The lighting is aging and uses a lot of electricity. The electrical is in desperate need of updating. The school needs microphones, speakers, and other audio investment.

Located in the remote Eastern Sierra, Bishop Unified serves nearly 2,000 students across five schools. Almost 15 percent of our students are Native American, and 41 percent are Latino/Hispanic, according to California Department of Education, with 64 percent of students considered socioeconomically disadvantaged. Because Bishop is located at least 3 hours drive from any metropolitan area, the kids have limited opportunities to experience the performing arts.