{"id":2376,"date":"2024-11-22T19:24:22","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T19:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/?p=2376"},"modified":"2024-12-17T16:40:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T16:40:50","slug":"2024-differencemaker-high-school-idea-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/2024\/11\/22\/2024-differencemaker-high-school-idea-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 DifferenceMaker High School Idea Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To kick off the event, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steventello\/\">Steve Tello<\/a>, Interim Director, Rist DifferenceMaker Institute, UMass Lowell, gave opening remarks. Next, Provost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hartmanjoe\/\">Joe Hartman<\/a> spoke about all that UMass Lowell has to offer in hopes to see some familiar faces next year. He then passed the stage to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gina-mustoe-2521577\/\">Gina Mustoe<\/a>, 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, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/donna-mcfadden-51881510\/\">Donna McFadden<\/a>, 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, Steve Tello, presented an overview of DifferenceMaker, sharing the benefits and opportunities the program offers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The judges were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Kim Carman, Teacher, Upper Cape Tech, Retired<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gajardovejar\/\">Cintya Gajardo-V\u00e9jar<\/a>,&nbsp; Professor, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sderuntz\/\">Sandi DeRuntz<\/a>, Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thezipperbuddy.com\/\">ZipperBuddy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joshua-landis-unicycleman\/\">Joshua Landis<\/a>, Founder, SparkCell Technologies<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jacob-b-5824271b9\/\">Jacob Breen<\/a>, Founder, RAVI<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/hamilton-wenham-regional-high-school\/\">Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/quincy-high-school-97\/\">Quincy High School<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/groton-dunstable-regional\/\">Groton Dunstable Regional<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/king-philip-regional-high-school-wrentham-ma-\/\">King Philip Regional High School (Wrentham, MA)<\/a>, Westford Academy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/weston-high-school-ma\/\">Weston High School<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/nashoba-regional-high-school\/\">Nashoba Regional High School<\/a>, and Chelmsford High School. Each pitching team had 5 minutes to present, followed by 5 minutes of judge Q&amp;A. The judges deliberated after the presentations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-22-at-2.18.10\u202fPM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1008\" height=\"876\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-22-at-2.18.10\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2379\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em>1st place winning team United Abilities from Weston High School with statewide DECA advisor Donna McFadden after their pitch presentation.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Congratulations to all teams that presented and won awards!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1st place, $500<\/strong> \u2013 Weston High School \u2013 \u201cUnited Abilities\u201d \u2013 a volunteer-based program that unites individuals with intellectual disabilities through arts and crafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2nd place, $300 <\/strong>\u2013 Chelmsford High School \u2013 \u201cMud Bud\u201d \u2013 a handheld device designed to effectively clean the spikes on cross-country sneakers for better performance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3rd place, $200<\/strong> \u2013 King Philip Regional High School \u2013 \u201cSole Saver\u201d \u2013 interchangeable shoe soles for different sport surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-22-at-2.23.05\u202fPM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1134\" height=\"694\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-22-at-2.23.05\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2381\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em>A group picture of the teams who were a part of the 2024 6th Annual DifferenceMaker High School Idea Challenge.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to the past DifferenceMaker teams who volunteered their time to support and inspire the high school students:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/meet-the-differencemakers\/dm-zipperbuddy.aspx\">ZipperBuddy<\/a>, Sandi DeRuntz<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/meet-the-differencemakers\/dm-sparkcell-technologies.aspx\">SparkCell Technologies<\/a>, Joshua Landis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/meet-the-differencemakers\/dm-ravi.aspx\">RAVI<\/a>, Jacob Breen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deca.org\/\">DECA Inc.<\/a> and Donna McFadden, Massachusetts DECA State Advisor, for sponsoring the event prizes. Another thanks to all partnership schools and teachers involved in this collaboration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x23pK47EVQw\">View a video of the event.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.&nbsp; To kick off the event, Steve Tello, Interim Director, Rist DifferenceMaker Institute, UMass Lowell, gave &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/2024\/11\/22\/2024-differencemaker-high-school-idea-challenge\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2376"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2388,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376\/revisions\/2388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}