Butler Intermediate students competing in manufacturing video contest
Seventh- and eighth-grade students stepped onto the floor at JSP Manufacturing in East Butler to watch workers perform their daily duties that make products come together.
Breit Cochran, an eighth-grade history teacher at Butler Area Intermediate High School, said the students’ understanding of not only how products are made, but how much of their lives are impacted by the work of manufacturers is like a revelation in the moment.
“Once they start to talk to the manufacturers, they come to the conclusion that everything in my life is manufactured,” Cochran said. “It was amazing, all the companies were such great hosts.”
Butler Intermediate has two teams of students entered into the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contest hosted annually by the Catalyst Connection, one team working with JSP Manufacturing and the other with EPD Electronics in Natrona Heights.
Student teams competing in the contest are matched with local manufacturers that act as their mentors, and subjects for a video the students must create explaining what the company does and how the workers do it.
The submitted videos are then subject to public vote and a vote by judges from Catalyst Connection, who pick the best videos in several categories, including best overall video, best manufacturing message, most creative, best use of technology and best promotional method of the video.
“The theme is the students are trying to answer that question, and communicate with peers about what they think is cool about manufacturing,” said Scott Dietz, director of workforce development for Catalyst Connection. “It's an outlet for students to showcase their creativity and its also about career exploration.”
Cochran said the process of completing the projects takes a few months, but is rewarding for the participating students.
“We make two visits. One is the initial visit, then they will make notes on who they want to interview, what they want to know, they ask the manufacturers a lot of questions,” Cochran said. “They will work on this video, they come up with the concept, the theme, they will narrate it, create the script, take the video — everything under the sun.”
The videos from the two Butler Intermediate teams are now up for viewing at whatssocool.org in the Pittsburgh contest division. The awards ceremony will be April 7 at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh.
The two teams from Butler are going up against 18 other teams from around the region, which Dietz said is down from the number of entries pre-COVID. He said students doing the legwork for their submissions in person enhances the experience.
“It's nice to be able to get back to in-person again,” Dietz said. “Going into a factory and seeing the workers work, there is nothing quite like that experience.”
Teams from Butler Intermediate have won awards from the contest in the past, including last year, when both teams took home a recognition in one category each.
Cochran said the contest educates students on not only how products are made, but also about the potential career opportunities available to them once they get out of school.
“They learn about all the opportunities, all the job security and the benefits to it,” Cochran said. “It's amazing to see the kids come to the realization that ‘This is a career path I could go down.’”
