On June 1, 2000, about 2145 Eastern Daylight Time, a Piper PA-28-161, N8234L, was substantially damaged while landing at the Dayton Wright Brothers Airport, Miamisburg, Ohio. The certificated flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were not injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to the CFI, the student was on his first night "sortie," and was at the controls. While on final approach to Runway 20, the CFI noticed that the visual approach slope indicator (VASI) was "red over red." The CFI then heard the engine power begin to increase and assumed that the student was correcting to get back on glide path. Realizing that the student was not adding enough power to correct, the CFI reached for the throttle and heard a bang. The airplane touched down short of the runway and came to rest in a grassy area. When the CFI exited the airplane, he noticed that it had impacted approach lighting stanchions that were located at the approach end of the runway. The CFI additionally stated that he was unfamiliar with the fact that there were approach lighting stanchions at the approach end of the runway, and that they were not illuminated at the time of the accident.