The Chula Vista High School Foundation was created in 2013 with the purpose of raising enough money to purchase a new digital marquee for the high school.
Last week the foundation unveiled its new marquee in front of students, faculty, administrators and foundation members.
The new sign located at the corner of Fourth Avenue and K Street will display news, information and events electronically for the CVHS community.
Senior Janan Salaam said before the sign was put up, students often got their news and information through social media or word of mouth.
Salaam said the new marquee will help information reach most students and parents.
“To a lot of people a marquee may not be the most important thing that they think the school needs,” Salaam said.
“But really, to us, it’s just a sign that our school is moving forward in terms of technology.”
An old marquee was once used to disseminate information, but that one became outdated and limited with the amount of information that could be placed on the sign, Salaam said.
Gary Chapman, president of the CVHS Foundation, previously said that a few years ago the old sign fell on a student.
Principal Mary Rose Peralta said the sign would be very helpful in informing the community of school related activities.
“This is something the community can say ‘Look what is going on at the school,’” she said. “Aside from (getting) phone calls for information, we have a marquee.”
Jack Blakely, a member of the Chula Vista Foundation and a 1964 graduate of CVHS, said the foundation, through private donations, raised about $40,000 for the sign.
The 2014 and 2015 Associated Student Bodies each donated $5,000.
Blakely said the cost of the sign was slightly less than $40,000 so he said the foundation has money left over for any future projects.
The LED sign started off as a $30,000 project but that quickly escalated to meet state regulations, Blakely said.
Signtech, a national sign company based in San Diego, constructed the 5-foot high and 8-foot wide sign. The marquee sits on an 8-foot pole.
The sign is the foundation’s first project and Blakely said to expect more projects for the high school to be made possible because of the foundation.
He said by raising money for the sign, the community should be confident in the foundation.
“I think for the foundation it has given us a breath of fresh air because the community knows we can get things done.”
