School benefits from alum generosity

The Chula Vista High School community will soon be able to get the latest news and happenings at the school through a new state of the art marquee.

The Chula Vista High School Foundation, a foundation consisting mostly of alumni, formed in 2013 with the purpose of raising about $40,000 to install a new digital sign that disseminates information for students, parents, faculty and alumni.

The foundation has finally raised the money needed and the new sign is scheduled to be in place by May 11, said Gary Chapman, president of the foundation and a 1963 alumnus.

Chapman said the new sign will be located at the corner of Fourth Avenue and K Street, where the school’s old marquee was.

Chapman said the high school’s old sign became outdated and fell on a student about two years ago.

Chapman said a new electronic sign is an important fixture for the school and its surrounding area.

“In the west side of the city, how does the Chula Vista High School community gets its information? Not everyone has a computer,” Chapman said.

“That’s the way we communicate with the neighborhood and tell people things, so that the people driving by know what’s going on.”

Chapman said the school had been looking to buy a new sign but couldn’t afford it, so the Chula Vista High School Foundation stepped in and formed the nonprofit to raise funds for the sign as well as other future projects, Chapman said.

“Our goal is basically to do anything and everything we can to support the students and the school in whatever they need with whatever we could provide,” Chapman said.

The LED sign started off as a $30,000 project but that quickly escalated to about $50,000 to meet state regulations.

The foundation received help from the 2014 and 2015 Associated Student Body, which donated about $5,000 each.

Signtech, a national sign company based in San Diego, is constructing the 5-foot high and 8-foot wide sign. Chapman said the sign will sit on an 8-foot pole.

Chapman said the initial stage of laying down the concrete has just been completed.

The sign is the foundation’s first project.

Chapman said the foundation looks to move on to raising money for its next project once the sign is officially up and working.

“Four hours after that sign gets put up we are starting a new fundraiser,” Chapman said.