Applying vinyl to rough plywood is tricky. Will it stick and stay stuck? To overcome the vinyl-to-plywood challenge, Jim Taylor used LexJet Simple MTS Adhesive Vinyl, which is engineered for rough and textured surfaces.

Taylor teaches a graphics manufacturing class at Val Verde High School in Perris, Calif., where students learn about screen printing, embroidery and digital printing. During the class, the students create graphics that are used not only at Val Verde, but at other high schools in the district as well.

In this case, the students created, printed and applied graphics for the Citrus Hill High School cheerleader boxes the Citrus High cheerleaders use during football season. The photo shows the latest version of the cheerleader boxes that will be in play this season.

“We didn’t have to replace any of the graphics last season. They brought the boxes back and we just pulled off the old ones and applied the new graphics. We sat them in the sun for about half a day to warm them up and pulled them off without replacing any of the wood, and applied the new graphics,” says Taylor.

Taylor says the cheerleader boxes take a lot of abuse, going from game to game, but the graphics hold up all season long. The graphics are printed with the HP Latex 260 (formerly the HP Designjet 26500).

“The prints turn out real nice. We cut them in a rectangle, apply them to one side of the box, and cut off the excess around the edges. We applied about 24 of them in about 30-45 minutes,” adds Taylor.