Northampton Area Middle School won the Lehigh Valley What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? video contest’s Viewers Choice Award for the third straight year Tuesday night while Wilson Area Middle School won the contest’s top judges’ award.
Created by the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) in Allentown, PA, the annual video contest excites students to explore cool manufacturing careers and produce profiles of companies throughout Pennsylvania. The teams of students and teacher coaches receive camera equipment, software, and professional guidance as they learn to script, record, and edit their video stories. Judges bestow a variety of awards and fans vote online for its Viewers Choice Award. The contest’s objective is to change students’ perceptions about manufacturing careers.
First held in 2013, the contest has become so popular that its format has been adopted in seven additional Pennsylvania communities – Berks and Schuylkill counties; Cambria and Somerset counties; Chester and Delaware counties; North Central PA; the Philadelphia Region; the Pittsburgh area; and South Central PA. The MRC provides logistical and promotional support and manages online voting for these affiliated contests.
This year’s flagship Lehigh Valley contest – presented by the MRC and the Lehigh Valley Workforce Development Board – included entries from 31 teams from Lehigh Northampton, Schuylkill, Carbon, and Bucks counties. Production support was furnished by PBS39 Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem, PA. More than 100,000 votes were cast online for the Viewers Choice Award for the fourth straight year.
A raucous capacity crowd attended the contest’s awards ceremony at Bethlehem’s ArtsQuest Center, hosted by Laura McHugh, Reporter and Host for PBS39 Lehigh Valley. Northampton received the Viewers Choice Award for its profile of Dynalene and Wilson’s profile of Orbel Corporation earned the judges’ Outstanding Program Award for overall excellence. Additional 2017 Lehigh Valley contest awards include the following:
- Outstanding Videography: East Stroudsburg J.T. Lambert Intermediate School in the East Stroudsburg Intermediate School for its profile of Imperial Machine & Tool Company.
- Outstanding Editing: (Tie) Nazareth Area Middle School for its profile of Victaulic. Company and Northampton Area Middle School for its video on Dynalene.
- Outstanding Creativity: Nitschmann Middle School in the Bethlehem Area School District for its profile of Piramal Critical Care.
- Outstanding Cool: Orefield Middle School in the Parkland School District for its profile of Wacker Chemical Corporation.
- Outstanding Educational Value: (Tie) Northern Lehigh Middle School for its profile of ProtoCAM and Saucon Valley Middle School for its profile of C.F. Martin & Company.
- Outstanding Team Spirit: Trexler Middle School in the Allentown School District for its profile of Atlas Machining & Welding.
- Outstanding Marketing Plan: Pleasant Valley Middle School for its profile of United Envelope.
- Outstanding Brand Placement: Northeast Middle School in the Bethlehem Area School District for its profile of Follett Corporation.
Leadership for the 2017 Lehigh Valley contest also was provided by the Lehigh Career and Technical School (LCTI); Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School (BAVTS); the Career Institute of Technology (CIT); and the Carbon Career and Technical Institute (CCTI). The contest’s additional sponsors include the following:
Gold Sponsors: Air Products and Chemicals; Aerotek; Crayola; King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul Attorneys at Law; Pennsylvania’s Advanced Training & Hiring (PATH) program; PNC Bank; PPL Electric Utilities; Stanley Black & Decker.
Silver Sponsors: Bitronics; Charter Partners Insurance; Concannon Miller Certified Public Accountants; Dynalene; Eastern Surfaces; espi; Equinox Agency; Feinberg Real Estate Advisors; Follett Corporation; Kreischer Miller; Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC); Lehigh County; Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC); Lutron Electronics Company; Nestlé Waters North America; Northampton Community College; Piramal Critical Care; ProtoCAM; RER Energy Group; RETTEW Realty; Santander Bank; Talen Energy Corporation; TPEI; Victaulic Company.
Bronze Sponsors: Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School (BAVTS); Bio Med Sciences; Carbon Career and Technical Institute (CCTI); Carbon Chamber & Economic Development Corporation; Career Institute of Technology (CIT); Coca-Cola Bottling Company of the Lehigh Valley; Da Vinci Science Center; Express Employment Professionals; First Commonwealth Credit Union; GoPro; Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Manufacturing Council; HMK Insurance; Just Born Quality Confections; Lehigh Career and Technical Institute (LCTI); Monroe Career and Technical Institute (MCTI); Northampton County; Provident Bank.
Media Sponsors: Adams Outdoor Advertising, Lehigh Valley Business, Lehigh Valley PBS39.
About the Manufacturers Resource Center
The Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) is dedicated to creating jobs and economic opportunity in eastern Pennsylvania’s Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties. MRC is a nonprofit organization partially funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s NIST-MEP program, as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development.
News Story Contact
Karen Buck, Manufacturers Resource Center
Allentown, PA, 610.628.4626
Photo from PBS39 Lehigh Valley