By Marisa Dawson
Construction Photos by BHS teacher Andrew Lechtenburg, Scoreboard Photo by BPS

A new addition at Bennington High School is expected to do much more than keep score.

The school recently installed a new videoboard at its stadium, replacing a scoreboard that was more than 15 years old and nearing the end of its life. The approximately $390,000 project was made possible through a $300,000 contribution from the Bennington Public Schools Foundation, while Bennington Public Schools is contributing approximately $90,000 using funds that had already been designated for replacing the existing scoreboard.

The old board’s condition had been on the Foundation’s radar for several years, although Executive Director Blake Thompson said the timing of the project was uncertain until the need for replacement became more immediate.

“We knew that the current high school board was nearing the end of its life, so we’ve had it on our radar,” Thompson said. “We weren’t sure of the timing.”

As the existing scoreboard became increasingly outdated and replacement parts more difficult to find, the district and Foundation began considering whether simply replacing it with another traditional scoreboard was the best option.

“The old scoreboard is more than 15 years old and is becoming outdated, with replacement parts increasingly difficult to find,” the district said. “Rather than simply replacing it with the same technology, the District and the Foundation saw an opportunity to invest in a videoboard that could serve a much broader purpose.”

That broader purpose was a major factor in the Foundation’s decision to invest $300,000. While the board will provide an upgraded experience during football games, Thompson said its potential reach extends far beyond one sport.

“Our mission is to benefit all students, and so it will hit that by football games, soccer games, band invitational, other events, and then graduation,” Thompson said.

The stadium hosts P.E. classes, football, boys and girls soccer, track and field, youth events, marching band activities, graduation and other events throughout the year. The videoboard can also display video, graphics, announcements, student recognition and sponsorship content.

For events such as the marching band invitational, Thompson said the new technology could give organizers opportunities that simply were not possible with the old scoreboard.

“So, for example, at a band at the field show, they’ll now be able to say if someone is on the field, they’ll be able to put up a picture of their marching band or the name of their show or whatever,” Thompson said. “However they choose to do that, to where that just isn’t a possibility right now.”

The district also sees potential for the videoboard to eventually become part of students’ learning experiences.

“There is potential for the videoboard to become a hands-on learning tool for students interested in areas such as broadcasting, video production, graphic design, marketing, and communications,” the district said.

No specific student programming has been determined yet, but the district said it has discussed ways the videoboard could potentially connect with classroom and extracurricular experiences. Staff members who choose to operate the board will also receive training on the new software.

Although the Foundation is providing the majority of the project’s funding, Thompson said it did not launch a fundraising campaign specifically for the videoboard. Instead, the contribution will come primarily from its student success programming resources, which have been built through fundraising, donations and investments over time.

The Foundation budgets for its regular annual programming separately while maintaining the ability to support larger projects when opportunities arise.

“We try to keep things financially stable into a place where, when there is a need, we can support it,” Thompson said. “So we try to prioritize large projects.”

Before supporting major investments, Thompson said the Foundation considers the number of students who could be impacted, the district’s priorities and other factors. The videoboard ultimately rose to the top because of its potential to reach students across athletics, activities and school events.

“This was a top priority that’s been discussed for several years that we knew was coming,” Thompson said. “It just was the amount of when the district was ready to and needed it and when kind of everything aligned together.”

The project was not tied to Bennington’s move into Class A athletics, Thompson said, despite what some community members may assume. The primary issue was the condition of the existing scoreboard, which was no longer functioning reliably.

“The current board was really the biggest piece of this that it is not functioning,” Thompson said. “If you’ve been to a game, you can see that it really isn’t functional.”

The district had already planned to spend approximately $90,000 to replace the old scoreboard. The Foundation’s contribution allowed the project to go beyond a basic replacement and invest in a system with significantly more capabilities.

That distinction reflects how Thompson describes the Foundation’s role within Bennington Public Schools.

“We are built to help the district go above and beyond the norm,” he said. “The district provides what students need.”

For Thompson, the value of the videoboard comes not only from the technology itself, but from the ways it could enhance experiences for students and families.

Graduation is one example. Thompson said the board could create opportunities to recognize each student in a more personal way as they cross the stage.

“And so we wanted an opportunity that, you know, a student, they spend a lot of time and effort and money on their senior photos, and so maybe that senior photo can be put up when they walk across the stage at graduation,” Thompson said. “Things like that just can add a little bit of pride that our students deserve.”

The district similarly hopes the investment will have an impact well beyond the scoreboard’s traditional role.

“We hope the videoboard becomes much more than just a way to keep score,” the district said. “We want it to enhance events, celebrate students, and create an even stronger experience for families and community members who attend events at the stadium.”

The videoboard is also expected to create an ongoing source of revenue for the Foundation through sponsorships and advertising.

Thompson said Scoreboard Media will work with the Foundation to manage the advertisements, including contracts, graphics and uploading content to the videoboard, while the Foundation will benefit from the resulting profits.

“One is it will bring revenue in for the foundation by selling sponsorship ads, so there’s an opportunity to make our money back over time,” Thompson said.

The board will also give the Foundation a highly visible way to share its own work, events and initiatives with the community.

Thompson said a traditional scoreboard with a permanent sign recognizing the Foundation would not provide the same opportunity to increase awareness of what the organization does.

“Putting up a regular board with just some permanent sign that says purchased by the foundation isn’t going to build our brand near as much as if we can have our logos on there and our QR codes and our events and pictures of alumni events,” Thompson said.

Ultimately, the district views the new videoboard as part of its broader commitment to supporting the many ways students participate and learn outside the traditional classroom.

“The District strives to have facilities that support the many ways students learn and participate at school,” the district said. “Athletics, activities, and fine arts are an important part of the overall student experience.”

With the new videoboard now installed, the project represents both a necessary replacement for aging equipment and a new opportunity to enhance events held at the stadium.

For the Foundation, its $300,000 investment is intended to take that replacement beyond the basic need and create something that can benefit students across multiple programs for years to come.

Information about sponsorships and partnerships for the video board can be found here on the BPSF website:
https://www.benningtonschoolsfoundation.org/get-involved/bennington-stadium-scoreboard-partnership.html