HAMPDEN – The senior class at Hampden Academy got quite a surprise recently when academy alumnus and “Dancing with the Stars” producer Daniel Martin sent them items autographed by contestants on the show to auction off during the students’ TV show spinoff Project Graduation fundraiser, “Dancing Like the Stars.”

“We never asked him,” Project Graduation co-coordinator Georgianna Piete said. “He just wanted to give back to his community and Hampden Academy from which he graduated.”

Saturday night marks the finale of the fundraiser, which is modeled after the show. Orono and Brewer high schools recently held similar events to raise funds for their Project Graduation outings and raised $7,900 and $4,500, respectively.

“We raised $3,900 last Saturday,” Hampden Academy co-coordinator Bill Burke said Thursday. “It was great. It was very entertaining and it was a good night.”

Eight students and faculty members are paired with professional dancers from Back Door Dance Studio in Eddington.

“They’ve been great,” Burke said of the pros. “They’re doing this on their own time.”

For the past five weeks, they have been practicing an average of two to three nights a week to perfect their swing dance moves, a performance each couple gave last weekend before three of them were eliminated.

“They want to look good out on the floor, and they did,” Burke said. “It was unbelievable what people saw.”

Tomorrow night, they’ll all repeat their swing performances and then do an original performance of their choice.

Burke said one couple intends to dance the tango and another the polka. After their performances, the remaining five couples will be narrowed down to a winner.

“It’s just like what you see on the TV show,” Burke said.

On ABC, “Dancing with the Stars” pairs celebrities with professional dancers. This season, Olympic gold medalist and figure-skating great Kristi Yamaguchi took the title, but Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor came in a close second.

Martin grew up in Hampden and graduated in 1997. He went on to attend Colby College where he majored in performing arts. While at Colby, he spent a semester in Australia interning at a television station. He also spent a summer at Universal City’s New York Film Academy where he created four short films.

After graduating in 2001, Martin worked as a news producer, photographer and reporter at WABI-TV in Bangor while taking technical production classes at Husson’s New England School of Communications.

He went on to work for MTV’s “Real World” as a camera operator for three seasons. In the off-seasons, he worked as a camera operator and producer for “Ultimate Fighter,” “MTV Overdrive,” “Bringing Home Baby,” “Bridezillas,” “Bodog Music Battle of the Bands,” “The Simple Life,” “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” and “Top Chef.”

In 2006, Martin began working as a producer for ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” beginning in the third season. When Martin learned about Hampden Academy’s fundraising project this year, he wanted to get involved.

“Dan was able to procure several items of memorabilia from the show for Hampden Academy’s Class of 2008 to auction off for its Project Graduation fundraiser, and he sends the class his best wishes,” his parents wrote in a brief statement on behalf of their son. “His own Project Graduation was held at Champions in Waterville, and he still has fond memories of that last night of partying with his classmates.”

All proceeds from the event will go toward Project Graduation for the Class of 2008. The items will be on display during Saturday night’s performance and the winning bidders in the silent auction will be able to take their items home after the event.

This year’s Project Graduation will take Hampden Academy’s senior class of about 200 students to Portland Harbor, where they’ll take a five-hour cruise on Casco Bay Cruise Lines before returning home for breakfast donated by Dysart’s.

Auction items

. Autographed photo of Spanish actor Cristian de la Fuente and his partner Cheryl Burke.

. Autographed photo of figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and her partner Mark Ballas.

. Autographed photo of judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

. NFL football signed by Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor.

. Signed dance shoes of Indy 500 NASCAR driver Helio Castoneves.

. “Dancing With the Stars” T-shirt.

. Two tickets to “Dancing With the Stars” show (transportation not included).

Dancing Like the Stars

Hampden Academy Project Graduation fundraiser

7 p.m. Saturday, May 24

$5 adults, $3 students and seniors, family $16