The run-down and broken marquee sign that stands facing the road in front of the high school has been broken and forgotten for many years. But, when the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) came to Robert Aspen, on-site administrator and the PTO liaison, with the idea of giving the marquee a update, the high school community got to see the remodeling of the sign. 

Aspen helps with the communication between the school and PTO. He tries to think of ways to make DHS a better place and revamping the school equipment has been a focus to start. 

“PTO came to me with, uh, the idea of rehabbing the marquee out there. And when they first said it, I was like, wait, what marquee? I didn’t even know we had a marquee,” Aspen explained.

The sign has been sitting out front in a poor shape, with noticeable holes and a run down board. But now it has a new, working screen and it is ready to be used.  

According to Aspen, PTO originally wanted to fund the project with fundraisers and money earned from events. However, after they made contact with Durango Facilities, the head of facilities at the time, John Morgan, made the remodel a city project. Now Durango Facilities are funding it through the money set for DHS from the 2020 bond program. 

Christopher Coleman, Chief Operations Officer (COO) for the district, helped oversee the project.“This project is going as planned. The work began over the winter break and we are currently waiting on some final trim/cap pieces,” he clarified in an interview. 

The sign is one of the first things people see when driving on the highway and it gives people their first impression of the school. Students that were briefly interviewed by El Diablo, including freshman, Lucy Wilson, seem to approve of the sign. 

“Now it actually shows the school,” Wilson stated in a brief interview. 

There is no doubt that the sign needed an update and it got that with the help of many like Robert Aspen, Christopher Coleman and others.