B.M.C. Durfee High School, Melrose High School, Seven Hills Charter Public School Win AMP It Up! Video Challenge
June 21, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
MassDevelopment today announced that B.M.C Durfee High School in Fall River, Melrose High School, and Seven Hills Charter Public School in Worcester have won the second year of the AMP it up! Challenge, which invited students to research the inner workings of an advanced manufacturing innovation and show in a three-minute video how it impacts the world around them. Each school is receiving $5,000. Durfee High School produced videos on Blount Fine Foods, a Fall River food manufacturer, and H&S Tool, a tube and pipe machine shop in Fall River. Melrose High School highlighted the Avedis Zildjian Company in Norwell, and Seven Hills filmed a segment at the Warner Babcock Institute in Wilmington. To view the videos, visit ampitupma.com/challenge.
“The AMP it up! Challenge is a creative, fun, and rewarding way for students to discover the scope of advanced manufacturing in Massachusetts,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “We’re thrilled to award these grants to Durfee High School, Melrose High School, and Seven Hills for their work on these videos, and I would like to thank all the schools and manufacturers who participated in the Challenge.”
“The AMP it up! Challenge is a perfect example of a partnership between school and business,” said Rene Kochman, Director of Operations for FRED-TV at Durfee High School in Fall River, Massachusetts. Kochman continued, “Our students did stellar work to promote local businesses that are thriving in our city. The FRED-TV team is proud of our educational programming.”
“Melrose High School is extremely excited and proud to win the AMP it up! Challenge,” said Anthony DiBenedetto, Melrose High School video production teacher. “The experience the students had working with Zildjian Cymbals and seeing its manufacturing process was something they will never forget. The contest helped to bring our entire school community together, rallying around the cause of voting for our entries. MHS-TV is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the challenge, and we look forward to doing it again next year!”
“Seven Hills students were very excited for the AMP it up! Challenge,” said Seven Hills Director of Reflection and Recovery and AMP it up! Challenge adviser Maritza Bryan. “We are proud of the students’ initiative, creativity, and commitment, and appreciative of the volunteers from the Revolving Museum who helped the students learn how to write scripts, act, shoot and edit film. Warner Babcock Institute in Wilmington was very kind to allow our children to come into its facility and learn more about green chemistry. We were fortunate to see a company that is providing cutting-edge resources to better our community and the world we live in. The finished product is amazing! The leadership of the students is a reflection of the community that Seven Hills represents.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2015, MassDevelopment financed or managed 294 projects generating investment of more than $2.5 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 6,100 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 2,000 residential units.