In the summer of 2019, it was officially announced that the Blasz Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona would be replaced by a new school honouring a true American Hero.
Patrick Tillman, an American professional football player, left his lucrative athletic career in June 2002 following the September 11th terrorist attacks and enlisted in the United States Army along with his brother Kevin.
Following an initial deployment to Iraq, both Patrick and Kevin entered Ranger School and graduated in the fall of 2003. Patrick was redeployed and in April of 2004, tragically was reported to have been killed by friendly fire.
Having spent his college and professional career in the Phoenix area, his legacy lives on in the hearts of the residents of Arizona, and with one of the area’s middle schools, the namesake of Patrick Tillman, American hero.
Located just east of the city, Tillman Middle School underwent a massive renovation that included the construction of a nearly 70,000 square-foot building with 42 new classrooms, administrative offices, STEM learning flex space and two new laboratories to support the students of the Balsz School District.
Home of the Warriors, the school lies only a few blocks away from the famed Sun Devil Stadium where Tillman spent his college years on the football field.
As part of these massive renovations, we were fortunate to have been asked to participate through our partners at Arizona Service and Installations. As part of the gymnasium upgrades, the school was looking to display the Tillman Warriors logo and turned to our GameDay GraFX product to get the job done.
Having graphics adhered with our patent-pending technology gives these bleacher seats another dimension of colour and lasting quality while bolstering team spirit and honouring the Tillman legacy.
Our team was given the exact specifications needed for the chairs to be placed upon the telescopic bleacher system and they were shipped to our facility. Our team then carefully placed the graphics on each seat and quickly shipped them down to our partners in Arizona for a careful and timely installation.
What exists now is a true testament to the Tillman legacy and one that will last through the school’s athletics for years to come.