The Arthur A. Smith gymnasium at Pleasant Valley High School will have a definite modern touch to it. Thanks to donations from community partners, student organizations and sports boosters, the new gym will feature a 10 mm LED message board near the scoreboard.

"The message board will be used to display advertisements from local area businesses and will help keep the community and the students up-to-date with school functions," said Josh Krebs, director of special services for the school district."The messages will only run before and after events or when there is a break in the action, so as not to distract from the games," Krebs said.The message board will be purchased entirely with donations at a cost of $26,239. The bulk of the money came from Coordinated Health Systems, which donated $21,024.On June 26, Bill Klepeiss, general manager of Lehighton Ford, presented a check for $1,000 to the district to help offset the cost of the message board."I became aware of their need to put in the message center, and I saw it as an opportunity," Klepeiss said. "When I became general manager back in February, I really wanted to give back to the communities. It's always been a desire of mine to be able to do something like this."In addition, two checks totaling $665 were donated by Forest Inn Masonry and Forest Inn Supply during the July school board meeting.Krebs pointed out that the school district does business with all three of the donor companies."Coordinated Health is contracted to do all of our school physicals and provides trainers for the sports teams.""We often rent vans from Lehighton Ford for sporting or special events and they maintain district vehicles," Krebs said. "We often purchase from Forest Inn when we need supplies for construction projects."Donations were also made by the volleyball team, the cheerleaders and the student government.The 4-by-10 screen will be available to advertise local businesses. The actual district policy on advertising is in the process of being finalized, but according to Krebs, the income from the advertisements will go toward maintaining the board.The message center will be similar to the large, programmable TV screens that are used in professional sports venues."If a student organization, such as the student government, sells an ad, the income will be split 70/30, with 70 percent going to the organization and 30 percent going to the district to offset the operating costs for the board and the facility," Krebs said.The board is being purchased from Daktronics and will include a 5-year warranty with on-site coverage. Since Daktronics is part of a state-approved purchasing program, the district was not required to openly bid the purchase.The plan is to complete the purchase and have the board installed and operational before the first basketball game of the season.