10  |  TSPMA MAGAZINE  |  FALL 2026
Collaborative Partnership Brings Digital Scoreboard 
to Hawkins County Schools
C
ardinal Glass, FG, Inc. a 
vital and growing glass plant, 
manufacturer, and industry 
partner in the Church Hill area 
of Northeast Tennessee, provided 
a huge donation to its local high school 
in 2025. A Daktronics, Inc. digital 
and high-resolution scoreboard, worth 
$250,000 at the time, was donated to 
Volunteer High School.
The donation followed several 
meetings with Hawkins County 
Board member Hannah Speaks and 
Cardinal, FG, Inc. executives. Ms. 
Speaks had ties with the plant as a 
former employee. Her father was also a 
long-time employee at the plant under 
prior management. Through these 
discussions, Cardinal representatives 
asked about site needs. Ms. Speaks, site, 
and district representatives settled on 
the need for a dependable scoreboard 
for the VHS stadium, which supports 
soccer, football, track, band and 
graduation ceremonies and events for 
the school. Cardinal replied 
and notified the school 
system they were willing to donate 
$250,000 toward the purchase of a new 
scoreboard.
On June 6 at its regular Board of 
Education Meeting, the school board 
members present voted to accept the 
extremely gracious donation to Volunteer 
High School. Daktronics, Inc. worked 
with Facility Supervisor Shannon 
Glass to design and to install the new 
scoreboard this past 
spring. The scoreboard was delivered and 
installed in late spring, just in time for 
the VHS graduation ceremony. Since 
then, the scoreboard has been used for 
local business advertisements during 
games, student recognition, and even 
movie night fundraisers and family 
events held inside Falcon stadium.
This example of a collaborative 
partnership between industry and 
school partners exemplifies what 
it means to work cooperatively to 
prioritize community investments. 
This relationship did not end with the 
donation of the scoreboard. Hawkins 
County Schools is in its second year of 
providing work-based-learning students 
to Cardinal Glass, FG, Inc. which in 
turn trains our students for real-life 
work scenarios and exposes them to 
skillsets needed within the industry. 
Hawkins County Schools would 
like to thank Cardinal Glass, FG, Inc. 
and Daktronics, Inc. for their efforts, 
donations, and time and energy to not 
only this project but more importantly 
for their ongoing support of 
Volunteer High School and 
our amazing students. 
Volunteer High School, Hawkins County 
Schools, new digital scoreboard donated by 
Cardinal Glass Industries
By Matt Hixson, Director of Schools, Hawkins County
10  |  TSPMA MAGAZINE  |  FALL 2026

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