Community
Bright business ideas blossom at Techstars
Photos by Matt Frey
Dozens of young entrepreneurs cultivated their ideas for new, unique businesses at the second annual Techstars Startup Weekend Newburgh, hosted at the Mount.
The participants – including students from the Mount, Vassar, Marist, Newburgh Free Academy, and beyond – learned how to think and work like a startup. They formed teams, developed their business ideas, and gave their pitches to the judges, all in a span of about two and a half days. Teams also had the opportunity to attend helpful workshops over the course of the weekend, hosted by more than a dozen local business leaders.
The winning teams presented the following ideas for new businesses:
Desk2Go: a backpack that doubles as a desk on the go.
Echo: a cybersecurity penetration testing service for small and medium sized businesses.
Olympic Dream Team – In Verse: a meta-verse-based system for communications/speech coaching.
“Everyone had some really great ideas,” said event co-coordinator Micah Modell, assistant professor of Information Technology. “This was an opportunity to put what the students have learned in their classrooms to use in a hands-on situation, and they all did a fantastic job.”
He added, “This experience can show that it’s very possible to be an entrepreneur and the building blocks of how to do that.”
Getting a leg-up on the college experience
Photos by Lee Ferris
Right before the start of their summer vacation, about 850 seventh graders from the Newburgh Enlarged City School District (NECSD) got a taste of college life at the Mount.
They enjoyed a campus tour led by volunteer college students, ate at the college’s “The View” dining hall, and had the chance to exercise on the turf field, tennis courts, and inside the gymnasium.
The event served as the kickoff for a five-year Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (NYGEAR UP) grant with NECSD. In August of 2022, New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) was awarded a $28 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education to increase college readiness and success for more than 6,200 disadvantaged New York State students.
“For most of them, this was their first time setting foot on a college campus, and so it was important that they see colleges as a friendly place where they could explore their passions and grow as people,” said David Gallagher, associate professor of Education. “Since one of the goals of the grant is to prepare them for postsecondary education, this is just the beginning of them imagining themselves being part of the college experience.”
Please touch: CMA Gallery offers interactive art
Photo by Emily Gursky
The exhibit by Jason Bauer and Romina Gonzalez included a clock that tells time through a pattern of light, a seat made from sculpted clay, and glass sculptures.
The CMA Gallery at the Mount is currently hosting its latest exhibition, “A Place to Connect,” by artists Jason Bauer and Romina Gonzalez.
The exhibit includes sculptural works consisting of glass and sulfur, and unlike most other galleries, visitors are invited to get hands-on with the art. These interactive pieces were designed to give viewers a “spiritual experience,” note Bauer and Gonzalez. Some produce light and sound, others are designed to help participants practice meditation, and more.
“A Place to Connect” will be on display until Saturday, September 30. The CMA Gallery is open Monday through Friday during normal business hours or by appointment. Email cma-gallery@msmc.edu for more information.
For more information about the CMA Gallery and its exhibits, visit www.msmc.edu/cmagallery.
High schoolers build broadcasting chops at the Mount
Photos by Lee Ferris
More than 20 Broadcasting students from Middletown High School got a hands-on look at how radio and television programs are made at the Mount.
The experience included tours of the Mount’s TV and radio studios, as well as a question and answer session with the creative students behind the comedic Mount video series Last Friday Knight.
The visit was a part of the Knight Program, in which students at local high schools are given the opportunity to earn college credits for courses regularly offered on the Mount campus. These courses are taught onsite at the high schools and by their instructors. Mount faculty and administration certify the high school faculty members as having appropriate qualifications and credentials to teach Mount courses.
High schools in Goshen, Middletown, Newburgh, and Warwick Valley have partnered with the Knights Program already, with more expected to join later this year.
Emily Gursky ’23 contributed to this article.
