Annual award to Holyoke High School students tops $75k.
Holyoke Mayor Terry Murphy today announced the winners of two scholarship awards totaling $13,000 from the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) to Holyoke High School students on their way to college. The scholarship recipients are Alexander André Santiago Alvarado and Eric Douglas Fournier, both of whom will be attending UMass Amherst in the fall. Now in its eighth year, the MGHPCC merit-based scholarship program has awarded more than $75,000 in grants to date.
“The support we receive from our community partners is not only an investment in the city but a demonstration of their confidence in its future,” said Mayor Terry Murphy. “This is just one of the ways in which the MGHPCC supports our community, and we are grateful for it. I am confident that Alexander and Eric will make good use of the scholarship.”
“Supporting education and workforce development in the region is a part of our mission that our member universities take very seriously,” said MGHPCC Executive Director John Goodhue. “We value our partnership with local educational institutions and look forward to continuing it.”
“Alex and Eric are deserving students who always gave their full focus and effort even during a year full of pandemic-related disruptions and distractions,” said Acting Receiver/Superintendent Anthony W. Soto. “I have every confidence that they will continue to achieve great things during their college school career and beyond. Congratulations to them both.”
The MGHPCC scholarship program is open to any Holyoke Public School student enrolling at one of the five founding members of the MGHPCC: Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University, MIT, or UMass. It is open to students in any major and not limited to students of computer science or other scientific disciplines. Recipients are chosen based on an 800-word essay answering the question, “What do you see as the three biggest challenges currently facing Holyoke, and what would you do to address them?”
In addition to sponsoring the scholarship program, the MGHPCC works with the mayor’s office, Holyoke Public Schools, Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College, and local community service organizations to host internships, robotics competitions, teacher workshops, after-school classes, programming courses, career awareness days and summer camps.
Mayor Announces Winners of 2020 MGHPCC Scholarship Winners MGHPCC News
