Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA -
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) is proud to announce they are kicking-off their second season of the “What's So Cool About Manufacturing?” video contest for middle school students.
The Northeast “What's So Cool About Manufacturing?” contest gives 8th graders from schools in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties the opportunity to learn about local manufacturers by visiting them to produce a documentary video. The documentary experience offers them a unique window into their host manufacturer, and manufacturing in the region, that they can then present to students across the region in an educational and “cool” way. The season culminates with an awards show where student teams and their manufacturers are recognized for their efforts.
“We are very excited to launch season two of the “What's So Cool About Manufacturing?” competition in our region,” said Eric Joseph Esoda, NEPIRC's President/CEO. “This program is uniquely successful because it promotes STEM education in a hands-on, practical way. It shows students a realistic image of modern manufacturing and creates a new understanding of opportunities within Pennsylvania's largest industry. Thank you to all our schools, regional manufacturers and partners for helping make this program such a success.”
The contest was created to modernize the image of manufacturing and encourage students to consider manufacturing career paths. In its second year, NEPIRC's contest will field 11 middle school teams, who will each partner with a host manufacturer. Under the supervision of a teacher coach, each team will tour its host manufacturer's facility to document employee interviews and explore the company's products and processes through the lens of a GoPro camera. Teams later edit their footage and translate what they find to be “cool” about that company into a short video. Other students, faculty, parents and citizens throughout the region then place online “votes” for their favorite video using methods akin to many of today's talent-search television shows.
Student video submissions will be posted on the “What's So Cool About Manufacturing?” website - http://www.WhatsSoCool.org. Videos will become open to the public for Viewer's Choice Award voting in mid-March 2019. Judges will determine winning videos in a variety of other categories, and at the end of March, students, parents, educators, manufacturing leaders, community sponsors, local legislators and project partners will gather for an award ceremony to acknowledge the winning teams.
This year's “What's So Cool About Manufacturing?” contest is sponsored by Wells Fargo, Keystone College, the PPL Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development and NEPIRC's Board of Directors.
Visit http://www.WhatsSoCool.org for more information and resources.
