On November 19th, the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute held the 6th Annual High School Idea Challenge from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in University Crossing at UMass Lowell.
To kick off the event, Steve Tello, Interim Director, Rist DifferenceMaker Institute, UMass Lowell, gave opening remarks. Next, Provost Joe Hartman spoke about all that UMass Lowell has to offer in hopes to see some familiar faces next year. He then passed the stage to Gina Mustoe, teacher at Westford Academy, who shared inspiring words to the students about the importance of making a positive impact in the world by developing creative ideas. Next, Donna McFadden, Massachusetts DECA State Advisor, and Bobby Scott, Massachusetts DECA State Officer, gave a few words of inspiration regarding her journey and the High School Idea Challenge experience to the student teams.
Next, Steve Tello, presented an overview of DifferenceMaker, sharing the benefits and opportunities the program offers.
The judges were:
- Kim Carman, Teacher, Upper Cape Tech, Retired
- Cintya Gajardo-Véjar, Professor, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell
- Sandi DeRuntz, Founder, ZipperBuddy
- Joshua Landis, Founder, SparkCell Technologies
- Jacob Breen, Founder, RAVI
After the judge introductions, the event began. The audience was excited to hear the creative ideas from each high school student team. The schools competing include Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, Quincy High School, Groton Dunstable Regional, King Philip Regional High School (Wrentham, MA), Westford Academy, Weston High School, Nashoba Regional High School, and Chelmsford High School. Each pitching team had 5 minutes to present, followed by 5 minutes of judge Q&A. The judges deliberated after the presentations!
Congratulations to all teams that presented and won awards!
1st place, $500 – Weston High School – “United Abilities” – a volunteer-based program that unites individuals with intellectual disabilities through arts and crafts.
2nd place, $300 – Chelmsford High School – “Mud Bud” – a handheld device designed to effectively clean the spikes on cross-country sneakers for better performance.
3rd place, $200 – King Philip Regional High School – “Sole Saver” – interchangeable shoe soles for different sport surfaces.
After the presentations, lunch was served, and round-table mentor meetings took place with DifferenceMaker teams, Co-op students, UMass Lowell Business students and the high school teams. Each high school team had a 15-minute mentor session with the DifferenceMaker college students, in which they got the opportunity to speak with every mentor.
Thank you to the past DifferenceMaker teams who volunteered their time to support and inspire the high school students:
ZipperBuddy, Sandi DeRuntz
SparkCell Technologies, Joshua Landis
RAVI, Jacob Breen
Thank you to DECA Inc. and Donna McFadden, Massachusetts DECA State Advisor, for sponsoring the event prizes. Another thanks to all partnership schools and teachers involved in this collaboration.