L.B. Morris Elementary in Jim Thorpe was named one of the winners in the 2019 “What’s So Cool about Manufacturing?” Lehigh Valley contest last month.

During the award ceremony, held at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, officials awarded 11 honors for student videos. L.B. Morris, who did a video on Heritage Sign and Display in Nesquehoning, tied with Nitschmann Middle School in the Outstanding Career Pathway category.

The Lehigh Valley Contest featured entries from 26 middle school students in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, including Lehighton middle school students partnering with U.S. Metal Powders/Ampal, Palmerton working with TPEI, Panther Valley with Highwood USA, Penn-Kidder working with KME, and Northern Lehigh partnering with Nestle Waters North America.

Lower Macungie Middle School and Springhouse Middle School took the top honors during this year’s contest.

“The student teams and teachers put an exceptional amount of work into this contest — meeting with manufacturers, filming and editing their projects,” said Jack Pfunder, president and CEO of Manufacturers Resource Center and founder of the video contests. The contest is dedicated to changing perceptions and attitudes in Pennsylvania about advanced manufacturing careers.

The contest pairs teams of middle school students with local manufacturers.

The student teams then create a video profile that shows what the manufacturers produce, how they make their products, and why the manufacturer is a great place to work.

To view all the video profiles from the area go to https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/lehigh-valley.

Voting for the Northeast Pennsylvania region student video contest, which includes Monroe County, is now open until Friday. Voting is taking place at https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/northeast-pa.