Friday night football is changing at Parkway high schools. Tonight, Sept. 11, a new video scoreboard debuts at North High as the Vikings host Rockwood Summit. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. All four Parkway high schools – Central, North, South and West – are rolling out the new scoreboards during the 2015-16 school year.
The scoreboards are part of a sports marketing program bringing new revenue to benefit students participating in high school athletics and activities. Initial sponsors providing funding for the North High scoreboard include Maryville University, Mercy, Signature Orthopedics and TJ’s Pizza. To-date, the sponsors have pledged nearly $750,000 in support over the next five years.
The scoreboards are part of a new sports marketing agreement with Kelly Sports Properties, approved by the Parkway School Board Jan. 14. Under the agreement, Kelly Sports Properties will manage a program to protect the use of Parkway’s logos, marks, school names and other related items known as “intellectual property.” The program is intended to generate additional revenue to help insure high school students have access to school-sponsored extracurricular opportunities, despite budget challenges that occur from time to time.
A few of the responsibilities of Kelly Sports are: protecting high school logos and school names (intellectual property), managing the licensing program, printing game and event programs, advertising at MSHSAA-sponsored games and activities, scoreboard signage at fields and public address announcements at games.
“This program will allow our coaches more time to coach and let parents spend less time fundraising and more time in the stands cheering,” Mike Roth, Parkway director of athletics and activities said. “Plus, the revenue will benefit all of our high school MSHSAA-sponsored activities equitably. This includes everything from sports and cheer/dance to music, drama and speech and debate.”
Students will also have the opportunity to get involved “behind the scenes.” North High students will operate three video cameras to assist in the production tonight.
“This is a great learning opportunity for our students,” Roth said. “Particularly for those interested in careers in sports marketing or television production.”
Kelly Sports does not charge a fee for their services to Parkway. They receive a percentage of the revenue generated through the program.
![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. "[The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jeff] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![Principal John McCabe announces that Jeffrey Chazen has won Teacher of the Year. Chazen was discussing freedom of speech with his AP Government class when the door opened and administrators rushed in. “[I was] extremely happy and humbled, but mostly shock[ed]. I've been here longer than any other teacher, so I know most of the people on the list of Teachers of the Year, and they are amazing teachers themselves,” Chazen said. “It's just nice to be on the list with them, including [social studies teacher Kristen] Collins, who is the only other social studies teacher who has won Teacher of the Year. It was nice to bring something back to the social studies department.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/DSC_0021-1-2-1200x801.jpg)
![Striking a pose following their group dance, the 2024 Mr. Longhorn contestants welcome their audience to the show. Throughout the night, the nine competitors participated in an occupational section, skits for the talent portion and a fashion attire show before finalists were interviewed. “It's a fun time getting to hang out with my friends and doing [our] acts. I think I'm most excited for my performance with [seniors Bart Connors, Gavin Hamlin and Colin Hughes]. I like that I get to dance a little bit. I don't think I'm very good, but I'm gonna try my best to put on a show,” contestant and senior Henry Wild said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DSC_9759-1200x798.jpg)
![Kicking off dress rehearsal, Mr. Longhorn contestant and senior Carson Hughes goes over the group routine alongside other competitors. With just two days of practice, all participants learned the entirety of their introductory dance, chose an occupation to embody and crafted skits for the show. “The best part of this [whole thing] was learning the dance and just practicing with the guys. We [have to] try not to laugh the whole time, but we're having a lot of fun,” Hughes said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_5112-1-e1732164157549-1200x812.jpg)
![Blending together a concoction for a science experiment, science teacher Joel Anderson scares his students by bringing excitement and thrill into his classroom for his annual Halloween show. It took about six weeks for Anderson to set up his classroom for the show. “It’s pure terror. I came up with this idea a couple decades ago to do something fun for Halloween. So I pretend to be this mad scientist [that creates] a Frankenstein-like creature [with the class], learning a little bit of science along the way and [then ending] with a laser show. It’s just for fun; entertainment value,” Anderson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0021.JPG_-1200x800.jpg)
![Standing with girls cross country team mascot Pump the pumpkin, senior Sydney Etchason laughs with her teammates. Before the team’s senior night, Etchason undertook an odyssey to recover the pumpkin, which had been stolen by boys cross country. “We went through practice, and then a little birdie told me that it was in [senior] Emmett [Vernon's] car. I [offered Vernon] $50 to give us our pumpkin back, and we got Pump back,” Etchason said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0002-1-1200x800.jpg)
