The Hamburg Area Middle School team won the Outstanding Editing Award in their first year competing at the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing competition. The 8th graders competed against 29 teams from Berks and Schuylkill counties.
The team members are Kaitlyn Barry, Grace Gilberg, Tatiana Short and Aaliyah Stump. The team advisors are Mary Sweeney and Dickson Borger.
“We are thrilled that they won the Outstanding Editing Award,” said Sweeney. “The girls worked hard and long on the project – from October to March. They quickly caught on to the filming process and the editing program. They were very creative in their presentation of the footage resulting in a video that was excellent.”
Sweeney said that the contest’s purpose is to get word out to students about the variety of careers available in manufacturing.
The team went to Appeeling Fruit in Leesport and filmed the process of preparing and packaging apples as snacks. They interviewed the owner and three people in management roles. Then they used the footage to create a video. They also developed a marketing plan on how to get word out about their video so people would vote for them, said Sweeney.
“Not only did they learn about the various careers available in manufacturing, they also learned the value of teamwork,” said Sweeney. “The girls had to meet several deadlines for this project and were successful in doing so. They were able to juggle this along with busy schedules involving school work and extracurricular activities.”
Sweeney said that this project is unique in that it gives students the opportunity to learn beyond the four walls of a classroom.
“They were able to participate in a community activity and gain insight about a world beyond formal education,” she said.