Northern Schuylkill schools participate in manufacturing video contest

PHOTO COURTESY / NORTH SCHUYLKILL - A North Schuylkill student interviews Ryan Cook, process ambassador at Tredegar Film Products, Mar Lin.

Sentinel Staff Reports | [email protected]

NORTHERN SCHUYLKILL – Students from the three school districts in northern Schuylkill County recently received a close, inside look at a trio of manufacturing facilities as they prepared video entries for the 2020 Berks-Schuylkill What’s So Cool About Manufacturing video contest.

The contest, hosted by the Manufacturing Resource Center, Lehigh County, includes 22 different entries from schools across the two counties, including Shenandoah Valley, Mahanoy Area, and North Schuylkill.

According to the contest’s website, “teams of students and teacher coaches receive camera equipment, software, and professional guidance as they learn to script, record, and edit their video stories. The contest’s objective is to change students’ perceptions about manufacturing careers.”

Between Wednesday and Friday, the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite. Each entry provides an inside look at manufacturing facility while interviewing the employees who work there.

Shenandoah Valley’s entry focuses on furniture manufacturer Highwood USA in the TIDE Industrial Park, Hometown.

North Schuylkill visited Tredegar Film Products in Mar Lin, near Minersville, which develops plastic film products used in various applications.

Mahanoy Area stayed relatively close to home, visiting Shenandoah’s Mrs. T’s Pierogies, interviewing owner Tom Twardzik, among other employees.

Voting will be on the contest’s website here: https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/berks-schuylkill/

Shenandoah, Mahanoy, and North Schuylkill will be up against schools such as Kutztown and Fleetwood in Berks County, as well as Minersville and D.H.H. Lengel in Schuylkill County, among several others.

Central Susquehanna contest
Schools from just over the county line in Northumberland and Columbia Counties are participating in the inaugural Central Susquehanna contest.

According to the contest website, “The Central Susquehanna contest team kicked off the 2020 contest with Teacher/Coach Orientation and Training on Oct. 4. Public voting will be held March 23-25. The season will culminate with an awards ceremony on April 2.”

The videos have not yet been released for the contest, though participating schools include Mount Carmel, visiting Brush Industries in Sunbury, Southern Columbia, visiting Commercial Stainless, Inc. in Bloomsburg, and Shamokin Area visiting Furmano Foods, Inc. in Northumberland.

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