Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin and the Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak announced on behalf of Gov. Tom Wolf the winners of the state’s first “What’s So Cool about Manufacturing?” (WSCM) Student Video Contest Awards.
Hosted by the Manufacturers Resource Center, Davin and Oleksiak joined students and manufacturing leaders at the Forum Auditorium in Harrisburg for the ceremony.
“The goal of WSCM is to make manufacturing attractive and cool in the eyes of middle school students so that a career in manufacturing and technical school education are on their radar,” Jack Pfunder, president and CEO of the Manufacturers Resource Center, said. “The creativity and enthusiasm that was displayed in each of the videos today is inspiring to all of us, and I congratulate every student who participated in this contest across Pennsylvania.”
A series of 12 annual, regional video contests, WCSM allows middle-school students across Pennsylvania explore manufacturing careers while producing video profiles of manufacturing companies. The most recent contest highlighted teams from 22 school districts across the commonwealth, marking the first time the regions competed against each other for a statewide WSCM award.
Bethlehem Northeast Middle School of Northampton County took home first place for their documentation of Atlas Machine & Welding, Inc. Wilson West Middle School of Berks County was awarded second place for their documentation of Novipax. Third place was awarded to Lionville Middle School of Chester County for their documentation of ONExia, Inc.
“This program is a great way to connect manufacturers to the next generation of their workforce while providing students with a creative, educational, and fun way to get excited about future careers in manufacturing,” Wolf said in a statement.
Since the beginning of his term, Wolf has been actively involved in creating initiatives to build Pennsylvania’s manufacturing workforce and education the next generation in ways to promote manufacturing careers. Wolf has set a goal for 60 percent of Pennsylvania residents to have some form of post-secondary education or training by 2025.