Students from the Wilson Area Intermediate School being honored at the 2020 What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? student contest. (courtesy photo)

More than 225,000 votes were cast in this year’s annual “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Lehigh Valley student video contest.

Each year, the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) presents the contest, which challenges student teams from Lehigh Valley area schools to shoot, edit, and promote short videos that document their experiences with a local manufacturer.

“This was a great contest and the hard work of the students, teachers and manufacturers is really evident,” said MRC President & CEO Rich Hobbs said during the awards ceremony, which was held at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem on Feb. 25, and was broadcast live on WFMZ.

“Being able to broadcast the awards event live means the results of that hard work have reached so much deeper into the community to raise awareness about manufacturing career opportunities,” Hobbs said.

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) was among the sponsors of the contest and event.

Awards were presented in 12 different categories, and the winners will be considered to represent the Lehigh Valley at the third-annual statewide competition in April. Visit here to see each of the Lehigh Valley videos.

Teams from 30 schools in Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon counties participated in this year’s contest, with such participating manufacturers as Mack Trucks, B. Braun Medical, C.F. Martin & Co., Crayola, Lutron, Victaulic, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Nestle Waters North America, Sharp Packaging Solutions, Smooth-On Inc., Just Born, Bimbo Bakeries, and more.

The student videos show what the manufacturers produce, how they make their products, and why each manufacturer is a great place to work. The contest is dedicated to changing perceptions and attitudes in Pennsylvania about advanced manufacturing careers.

The video with the most votes received the “Viewers Choice Award.” The videos were also reviewed by a panel of judges for awards in the other categories. The full list of winners is below:

• Outstanding Overall Program: Northeast Middle School – Nestlé Waters North America
• Outstanding Editing: Northampton Area Middle School – Innovative
• Outstanding Creativity: Nitschmann Middle School – B. Braun Medical Inc.
• Outstanding Cool: Lower Macungie Middle School – Smooth-On, Inc.
• Outstanding Team Spirit: Bangor Area Middle School – Equipto
• Outstanding Educational Value: Broughal Middle School – IQE, Inc.
• Outstanding Videography: Eyer Middle School – Allen Organ Company
• Viewers Choice: Springhouse Middle School – Sharp Packaging Solutions
• Outstanding Outreach Plan: Wilson Area Intermediate School – Crayola
• Outstanding Career Pathway: Penn-Kidder Campus – TPEI
• Outstanding Brand Placement: Saucon Valley Middle School – Ocean Spray
• Cranberries, Inc.
• Sweet Manufacturing Cupcake Award Winner: Career Institute of Technology (CIT)