Pictured are some of the Western Wayne Middle School students involved in the 2019 “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Northeast PA Contest. From left: Trinity Foulds, Alaina Maiocco, Ella Pavlovich, Kailey Tickner, Julie Bryan, Skylar Long, and Evan Peirce. Team members not pictured: Bernie Roedel and Ivan Knecht.
Voting for the second-annual “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing Contest?” will be open from March 27th through March 29th at https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/northeast-pa/ The public can support Western Wayne Middle School students by going on and voting for their video submission as many times as they would like.
Western Wayne Middle School students are part of this unique learning experience for the second time. Created by the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) in Allentown, PA in 2013, the “What’s So cool About Manufacturing?” contests draw entries from more than 200 teams across 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 of what it’s like to work in the manufacturing industry. Students learn about the manufacturing career field and complete their projects at various local manufacturing businesses.
The contest’s objective is to change students’ perceptions about manufacturing careers by sending them to local places where manufacturing is done to complete their submissions for “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?”. The “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contests are supported regionally by their sponsors and partners.
The 2019 “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Contest for Northeast PA is produced by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center in Hanover Township, PA. Participating schools are from Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne counties. Western Wayne is one of eleven schools participating in the Northeast PA Contest.
For the second year, Western Wayne Middle School students had the opportunity to explore Boyce Products Ltd., a manufacturing facility located in Damascus, for their project. This winter the students toured Boyce to learn about the manufacturing career field and gather information for their submission.
The group of Western Wayne students consisting of Bernie Roedel, Ella Pavlovich, Alaina Maiocco, Skylar Long, Trinity Foulds, Evan Peirce, Ivan Knecht, Julie Bryan, and Kailey Tickner felt rewarded and fulfilled after their experiences at Boyce and in creating their video submission.
The students were surprised to learn that Boyce makes a variety of products used in the national spotlight. For example, the students learned Boyce creates set pieces for CNN News, the tables used for interviews in the NFL, along with different props used in popular movies, and the call boxes used in New York City subways.
“It was neat to see how much work goes into each piece they create,” Evan Peirce, 8th grader from Western Wayne, said.
Evan’s fellow classmate Julie Bryan said she was excited to see the different equipment in use at Boyce.
“We got to see laser cutters going through metal,” Julie explained.
After their trip, the students worked on creating their video submission about their experience. Eighth grader Bernie Roedel acted as a student leader for this effort. The film is now finalized and can be viewed on the Western Wayne website at https://ww3.westernwayne.org/western-wayne-manufacturing-video-submission/
The Western Wayne School Community invites the public to vote for Western Wayne Middle School’s video submission to “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” at https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/northeast-pa/
The students have the chance to win for a variety of categories. Your vote can help them win the Northeast PA Viewer’s Choice Award.
