Gym floor ads given a one-year trial by board

The Columbia Falls school board gave the Wildc/kat Athletic Endowment Fund the go-ahead to put four advertising logos on the high school gym floor this season.

The banner ads, which are 4-by-8 feet, will be created and installed by Bitterroot Screen Printers. The School District 6 board of trustees OK’d the ads on a one-year trial basis earlier this month.

The board initially blocked the banner ads until it could get more information from WAEF officers. Some board members expressed concerns about commercial advertising in the school and what should be appropriate limits.

Glacier Bank, State Farm Insurance, Plum Creek Timber Co. and Melby’s Home Interiors are four of the companies advertising.

Each ad will sell for $1,000 and directly benefit the fund, which helps finance a host of school athletic costs beyond what the school district can afford, including athlete meals while traveling. The funds from the sale of the ads will go toward the “champ chow” program, which provides either a meal or sack lunch for traveling athletes.

The school district only covers meals when teams travel during the post-season, school district clerk Dustin Zuffelato explained.

The endowment kicked off several years ago and now has a principal balance of more than $400,000.