How local students are learning about careers in local manufacturing
by Jodie Dello Stritto
Community votes for the Chestnut Ridge High School After 3 team’s What’s So Cool About Manufacturing video led the state and earned the students “Best of Pennsylvania” Viewer’s Choice recognition, topping more than 150 videos statewide.
The video, which featured Creative Composites Group in Alum Bank, was created by a group of students in grades 6th-8th who attend the district’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers After 3 program at Chestnut Ridge High School for the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing in the Southern Alleghenies region.
A Tik Tok campaign that helped to drive nearly 300,00 votes.
Nearly 300,000 votes were cast in the Viewers Choice portion of the contest over three days in April, with nine videos created by middle school students in Bedford, Fulton and Blair counties competing for the most votes. The local program, supported in part through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is sponsored locally by the Bedford County Development Association, Bedford County Technical Center and the Bedford County 21st Century Community Learning Center Consortium.
Eight-grader Piper Kelley, a Chestnut Ridge team member, said the best part of the video project was the experience she gained. “The coolest part is I got to meet people and visit places I’ve never been before; and I learned about career opportunities not just from our video, but all the videos,” she said.
Chestnut Ridge students react to their Southern Alleghenies Viewers Choice win. The team earned enough votes to win the statewide Viewers Choice contest.
Other Chestnut Ridge team members included Bo Lingenfelter, Gage Fadrow, Roxanna Kelley, Elizebeth George, Keynna Nicodemus and Krya Brown. In addition to teacher-coaches Nikki Gephart and Keith Fleegle, the students were coached by high school student Integra Griffith, who used her experience as a team member in the 2023 contest to support this year’s students.
“The Creative Composites Group is grateful for the opportunity to work with the Chestnut Ridge After 3 students as well as their advisors in the creation of this video,” said Corey Reffner, Director of Human Resources at the company. “They captured a very important aspect of What’s So Cool About Manufacturing – the number of lives touched when there is a long-term, thriving manufacturing business in your community.”
Bette Slayton, BCDA president, added, “We’re so proud that these students’ incredible video is bringing statewide recognition to Bedford County. The video highlights the cutting-edge manufacturing being done at Creative Composites Group and also showcases the talent and creativity of our youth. This success is a shining example of what can be achieved when education and industry come together. Bravo Chestnut Ridge and CCG.”
The statewide What’s So Cool About Manufacturing project was created in 2013 to showcase manufacturing careers in Pennsylvania, while encouraging students to learn important skills in project management, storytelling, audio-video technology, communication and teamwork.
“When the Development Association approached the 21st CCLC Consortium in 2022 with the idea to include this project in our after-school program, we saw it as a great match,” said Lyn Skillington, consortium co-project director. “Career development and exploration is a key component of our programs, and coupled with the leadership opportunities the project creates it’s a winning formula for our students.”
The 2024 contest was just the second year for the Alleghenies region – it began with six Bedford County 21st CCLC after-school sites and expanded this year to three additional schools in Blair and Fulton counties, whose students worked with their teacher-coaches within the school day.
Teams are assigned manufacturers and tasked with creating a two-minute-thirty-second video that showcases the manufacturer and the careers available within that industry. Students research, plan, video and edit their video over several months and then promote it within their school communities.
“Across the board, the quality of the videos this year was outstanding,” Skillington said. “The work done by students throughout the region is pretty extraordinary. These are 12- to 14-year-old youth, and most have never worked on a project such as this. These videos are student-led – teachers are there to guide them. The growth in leadership, storytelling and technical skills we see among students who participate is remarkable. We’re grateful our school communities have supported their student teams by viewing and voting on the videos in such massive numbers. In just two years their videos have received more than a half-million votes.”
Five teams won awards at the regional recognition ceremony in mid-April. In addition to Chestnut Ridge’s Viewer’s Choice Award, Tussey Mountain’s After 3 team won Best Overall Program for their feature on Mayville Engineering Company in Bedford; Bedford’s After 3 video was recognized for Best Educational Value for their video on Kennametal in Bedford; Claysburg-Kimmel’s team won the Outstanding Career Pathways trophy for their video on Corle Building Systems in Imler and students from Forbes Road High School were recognized for Outstanding Outreach for their video about JLG Industries in McConnellsburg.
Other teams that created videos for the 2024 Southern Alleghenies Contest were from Southern Fulton, Everett Area, Northern Bedford County and Hope for Hyndman Charter School.
Learn more about the contest and see the videos at the contest website sa-cool.com.
Startup Alleghenies helps startup and emerging small businesses succeed by providing free coaching to entrepreneurs in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. To access personal, one-on-one support from a coach in your county, including guidance, resources, tools and networking opportunities, sign up at startupalleghenies.com.
