WEST SPRINGFIELD – Students involved in the West Springfield High School TV Club won $3,000 for their school after entering a video competition geared toward highlighting local manufacturing jobs.

Under the supervision of Director of West Springfield Public Access TV and WSHS TV Club Advisor Christopher Stone, students Jacqueline Garcia, Katelyn Johnston and Yasmin Aborida participated in the MassDevelopment AMP it up! Challenge back in January – although the challenge opened in October. The challenge aims to build awareness of advanced manufacturing innovations and careers in Massachusetts for students considering entering the field.

Each team was required to pick a local advanced manufacturing company and make a two-minute, documentary-style video that best captures the company’s influence on the region. Every year, MassDevelopment offers $3,000 to each of the top five teams. The teams have several months to complete their project before the judging begins. WSHS was among the top five winners for this year’s challenge, along with Greater New Bedford Technical Vocational High School, BMC Durfee High School, Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School and Melrose High School.

 “It’s designed to show students, teachers and other youth and adults what sort of career pathways might be available in terms of advanced manufacturing,” said MassDevelopment Communications Director Kelsey Abbruzzese. “There’s a perception of manufacturing as a dated industry in Massachusetts, but it’s so much more than that. These videos are a great way to highlight that.”

The WSHS students chose to focus on the Sullivan Paper Company in West Springfield, a third-generation family-owned company that prints gift-wrap paper as well as decorative covering papers.

The students conducted interviews with the Sullivan Paper Company employees, filmed b-roll and edited the footage all on their own, according to Stone, who helped delegate the project.

“The students were responsible for picking the company, contacting them, setting up a time to site-survey, and then scheduling a time to record the interviews,” he said. “I’m very proud of what we accomplished and I’m proud of our students and community.”

The WSHS team used software like Final Cut Pro to string together a variety of wide shots and close ups to accompany an interview with Sullivan Paper Company President Joe Sullivan. The video chronicles the history of the paper company, and educates viewers on the different types of machinery used for the printing process.

Although Yasmin Aborida had little video experience prior to the challenge – aside from her time with the TV Club, which allows its students to participate in producing video segments that highlight West Side – she said she fully enjoyed the editing process.

“I like editing, it was kind of fun,” said the senior. “I kind of memorized the video because I had edited so many pieces of it. It was hard at some points, because sometimes the speaker has inorganic pauses in their voice, so I had to edit them out.”

Katelyn Johnston, a junior at WSHS, said she also enjoyed the editing process and making sure every edit was “purposeful.”

She added that the project was a learning experience for her.

“I learned that manufacturing jobs are more technical than I realized, and they require more precise work to make the product perfect for the customer,” she said. “It’s important to highlight manufacturing jobs as a way to promote the company and see that stereotypes of working in a factory are not true.”

The students all agreed they hope to see some of the prize money go toward the TV Club.

Jacqueline Garcia said she is proud of the money the team raised, and believes it should be used to sustain overlooked clubs and groups at the high school.

“I’m excited for the different possibilities the school has to use that money to make it a little better. Hopefully it will go to different clubs or help out smaller groups, rather than the large school itself,” she commented.

MassDevelopment is the state’s finance and development agency, working with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. The AMP it up! Challenge is a part of the agency's larger mission to create jobs, increase the number of housing units, revitalize urban environments and address factors limiting economic growth.

To watch the WSHS students’ video on the Sullivan Paper Company, head over to https://ampitupma.com/challenge.