Amesbury - Amesbury High School students will soon benefit from upgraded technology thanks to a grant funded by two local entities.
Due to funding from the Institution for Savings and the Cammett Remembrance Fund – whose proceeds are raised in the names of Woody and Marcia Cammett – the high school will soon install an upgraded computer server, allowing for better learning opportunities.
The process began when the school’s science department head and AP chemistry teacher Mark Casto wrote a grant with hope of furthering his students’ education by updating the school’s technology.
“One of the reasons I wrote this grant is because I talk to students all the time, and I know what they need,” he said.
Then, Casto reached out to the Amesbury Educational Foundation, which made a $23,000 grant request to the Institution for Savings. Ultimately, the bank agreed to give the school a $15,000 grant, with the remaining $8,000 coming from the Cammett Remembrance Fund.
“We’re really happy to help the school and the Educational Foundation. And, seeing it firsthand is just so important. Because what the $15,000 is doing is remarkable,” Kim Rock, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Institution for Savings, said during Thursday’s visit to the school.
Casto said the new technology will likely have a positive impact on the day-to-day work students do in school.
“You see students waiting around for certain things to render, and hopefully with this server, things happen a little bit quicker. We also may have the freedom to install new programs on there that they can’t run right now just because we don’t have the capacity to run them,” he said.
Superintendent Elizabeth McAndrews said she is glad students will have advanced tools at their disposal.
“I think it’s absolutely incredible. I think we have incredible kids. We have incredible teachers, and now have incredible equipment needed to be able to challenge the kids to grow and to prepare them for college or not college, the workplace. It’s incredible to be competitive in the real world,” she said.
Similarly, Amesbury Educational Foundation President Bill Messner said the technology will give students a leg up in their lives after high school.
“It allows them to do the things they’re going to do in real life. In fact, it’s preparing them for getting ahead in college, if that’s the way they go, for having internships, for getting experience actually making things,” he said.
Soon, the server will be installed and students will be able to access and enjoy the new technology, Casto said.
“We’re trying to figure out a window of time we can get that installed, and hopefully up and running by the fall,” he said.