The paint and plaster job at Manual High School was part of a Volunteers of America project to renovate the building and to keep the community interested in the school.

Manual was closed for a year due to declining enrollment and low student performance, but faculty, alumni and community organizers were able to get it re-opened.

"This is a very gutsy, risky thing to do," said Dean about the re-opening of the school. "This could be a model for the rest of the country, if it works. That's the challenge for the principal and school board, making it work."

DENVER - Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean, along with members of the DNC's Executive Committee, will join Convention CEO Leah D. Daughtry and the staff of the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) for a service project at 3:00 p.m. on THURSDAY, January 10, 2008. In a project coordinated by the Colorado branch of Volunteers of America, Dean and the DNCC team will paint and plaster a room in need of repair at Manual High School and partner with students for a crafts project in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.As one of Denver's oldest schools, Manual first opened its doors in the 1890s. After a recent closure due to declining enrollment and low student performance, Manual re-opened its doors this past fall with a goal of emerging as one of Denver's premier high schools.