Students 'put the facts back in manufacturing'
ADAMS TWP — A team of enterprising middle schoolers need the public's help in a student video contest.
Mars Middle School Principal Todd Kolson told school board members at their Tuesday night meeting that the team of seven students submitted a video to the 2017 Pittsburgh “Explore the New Manufacturing” Student Video Contest.
The team's video, “What's So Cool About Manufacturing,” will be posted online from Monday through Feb. 17 at www.dreamitdoitpa.com/pittsburgh. Anyone can visit the website between those dates to vote for the video in the People's Choice Award, Best Video and Most Creative categories.
As contestants, eighth-graders Macy Barshick, Jessica Compton, Grace DiVecchio, Morgan Kivlan, Nathan Skomo, Madelyn Trent and Kauner Wagner were provided with video equipment and training and were asked to create a short video profiling a local manufacturing company and the career opportunities it offers.
The team collaborated with Adams Manufacturing in Portersville, which makes injection-molded products, from suction cups to stackable resin chairs.
In November, the team traveled to the factory to film, and then spent the next few weeks editing the footage.
Adams Manufacturing's Director of Marketing Dan Stainer said the contest, which is sponsored by the manufacturing industry group Catalyst Connection, is aimed at making young adults aware of the career opportunities available in manufacturing.
“We strongly support manufacturing and an opportunity came across our desk to get involved with young folks and get them excited about manufacturing,” Stainer said of the reason Adams participated in the video contest.
He said to give the students a grasp of the factory and its products, they were given a new-employee orientation.
“One of the best ways to come up with compelling video was to put them in the shoes of an employee,” Stainer said.
As “new employees,” the students toured the plant, were shown equipment and products and introduced to longtime employees before filming began.
Stainer advised the students against making a video for adults.
“This is really you speaking to your peers,” Stainer told the students.
The video, which Kolson showed to the school board members Tuesday night, was aimed at dispelling myths about the manufacturing field. It used a question-and-answer format to “put the facts back in manufacturing.”
“The kids were wonderful,” Stainer said of having the team on-site. “They were very professional and very engaged.
He said the students told him their experience in the factory opened their eyes to the various career opportunities available in the field of manufacturing.
“It shed light on something they might not have otherwise considered,” Stainer said.
