YHS gets new digital marquee

Yuma High School has installed a new digital marquee in front of Snider Auditorium capable of posting messages and displaying photographs.

“It is digital, which means there will be scrolling messages, said YHS Principal Faith Klostreich. “Because it is digital we can also include pictures — photos of activities or graphics.”

The new sign, which cost well over $10,000, replaces a previous marquee donated by the YHS graduating class of 1951. Most of the money for the new marquee was raised during the YHS centennial celebration a few years ago.

“We are so fortunate to have a majority of funding come from the funds that were raised during the 100 years celebration” by Yuma High alumni and other area residents, Klostreich said. “We are just so pleased they were able to make that happen and create those funds.”

The new marquee was purchased from Yuma-area businesses. “We are really excited about the local aspect of it because it was the people of this area who made it happen, and then we kept our business local and purchased it here locally as well,” Klostreich said.

The new marquee will be a major upgrade.

“We can include so much more information on it now than we could when we just used the letters you slide in and could only have one message on each side of the board,” Klostreich said.

“It is a lot more functional and a lot more attractive. I think it is certainly going to stand out a lot more because it is going to be colorful and lit up.”

Another advantage: YHS staff members don't have to go outside and manually change the message on the sign every time new information needs to be posted. “We will program it from a computer in an adjacent building,” Klostreich said.

And the sign is made to be environmentally friendly. “It will be on a photocell timer so it won't suck energy all night,” she said. “Nobody is going to be looking at it at 2 in the morning.”

The new marquee “is slightly bigger in size and I think it will appear slightly taller” than the old sign, Klostreich said, although the sign is “appropriate for the size of the street and the size of the buildings.”

The new sign is also safer than the previous marquee, which had begun to deteriorate after years of being exposed to the elements, Klostreich said. “The metal frame has rusted out, and that was a safety issue.”

Efforts were made to make sure the new sign would not rust.

“We have adjusted the spray of the sprinklers, and the concrete base is sloped so water that may hit from anything, whether it is sprinklers or storms, will run off and won't sit at the base of the pole,” Klostreich said. “They have put a lot of time and energy into planning to make this long-lasting.”

To honor the Class of '51, the old sign will be used elsewhere on the campus, minus the rusted pole.

“It is important to hang on to it,” Klostreich said. “The pole is not being used but the face, we are hanging on to those. They didn't get trashed. We can repurpose them on another part of the campus in the interior of campus in another kind of frame setting. We have some really creative kids, so we never know what they may come up with about how to use that.”

Klostreich appreciates the efforts of everyone who made the purchase and installation of the new marquis possible.

“It really was a community effort. Hopefully they will remember the help we received for the centennial, and that is what made the majority of funding for this project happen. We are so grateful for the Yuma community and especially to our alumni.”

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.