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Blue Springs High School, a premier high school located in the suburbs of Kansas City, MO, has a long history of excellence in their athletics and fine arts programs. So when administrators were invited to attend a demonstration of the ScoreVision jumbotron system at Benton High School in St. Joseph, MO last spring, they jumped at the chance to see it in action. “We were blown away by it, not just by the size of the boards, but the graphics involved, the sound of them – it definitely adds an element to a gym like no other. We loved it,” recalls Kelly Donohoe, Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Blue Springs.

It’s now been about a year since Mark Bubalo, activities director for the Blue Springs School District, had ScoreVision systems installed at both high schools in his district (Blue Springs High and Blue Springs South High). Bubalo wanted to share the key reasons he chose ScoreVision for his schools’ scoreboard upgrades and what other administrators should consider for their own upgrades.

“I think there are probably two things that are important for all school administrators to look at,” advises Bubalo. “You have to look at the price and what you get for that price, and the support. What we’ve really found out with ScoreVision is that you’re there for us anytime we need you, and the quality of the product for the price we paid is unbelievable.”

In addition to value and customer service, his staff shared a few other aspects to consider when upgrading the scoreboards in your school or district.

Fundraising Potential

Blue Springs High School joins the many other ScoreVision Schools that have found amazing fundraising success through ScoreVision’s integrated digital ad sequencing.

Bubalo recalls that the superintendent was blown away at the Benton High School open house event and gave him the “green light” to install the boards, on one condition – due to the state of school financing at the time, Bubalo would have to raise the money on his own. He got right to work and made it happen in record time: “In less than two months, I had 5 businesses on board making major donations over a 3-year period and we had the boards paid for. It was easy because the boards sell themselves. They’re an outstanding product and what we can do for our students in terms of raising the level of education and the engagement of the fans and students during games is pretty incredible. So it was an easy sell. Our businesses were on board right from the beginning.”

Donohoe adds, “You don’t feel like you’re pulling teeth [with advertisers]. They know this is a tremendous thing to be a part of. It’s going to be viewed by thousands of people every year...plus it’s helping high school kids out.”

Video Boards as an Educational Tool

“It’s a great educational tool,” says Bubalo. “We incorporated it into the curriculum right away and our teachers at both schools think it’s an amazing tool. They’re looking for even more ways to involve students.” Students in the schools’ TV production classes already produce the advertising graphics and even TV commercials for the local sponsors, gaining real-world career skills through working with the ScoreVision system.

Product Quality

Like every athletic director, Bubalo wanted to make sure the school didn’t install a product that would need to be replaced anytime soon. He found both the software and hardware elements of the ScoreVision system to be a solid long-term solution, stating that “the quality of the product for the price we paid is unbelievable.

Ease of Use

One of ScoreVision’s priorities is making sure that user-friendliness is prioritized in all the software we produce (without sacrificing robust features, of course!). Mallori Perry, who runs the Scorekeeper and Producer apps during many games, says “the ease of use for the apps is really great. We have found that they are really user-friendly after being trained by the ScoreVision team.”

On-going Customer Support

Bubalo also values customer support and making sure that whichever company he chose for his scoreboard upgrades would maintain a relationship long after a sale was complete. "What we’ve really found out with ScoreVision is that you’re there for us anytime we need you.

Mallori Perry, American Government teacher and Head Volleyball Coach at Blue Springs High, also values the lasting relationship with ScoreVision. “My overall experience with the support staff has been phenomenal. They’ve gone above and beyond for us at Blue Springs High School, they’ve gone above and beyond for the district as a whole. I can call the support team and they get it figured out right away.”

Hear the advice and more, directly from the administrators at Blue Springs Schools in our short video below! 

 

 

Interested in hearing what other ScoreVision customers have to say? Check out last week’s blog post about Prescott High School’s four main reasons for upgrading to ScoreVision and stay tuned for next week’s post about our Soccer Scorekeeper software!

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