Exeter Jr. High team of two wins manufacturing video competition
For Exeter Junior High School, the 2021 What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? contest was unlike any other.
Down to a team of only two students and never at any point all working in the same room together, Exeter still managed to take the top regional prize, Outstanding Overall Program in Berks and Schuylkill counties, for its video about American Polarizers Inc. in Reading.
“It makes me very emotional because I know how many hours they put into those two minutes,” said Kevin Adams, computer applications teacher at Exeter Junior High.
Adams advised eighth graders Carson Frederick and Katie Hoover on the award-winning project.
“It just felt so good to see them recognized for that,” Adams said.
The annual WSCAM contest held by the Manufacturers Re
source Center pits Pennsylvania middle schools against one another in a video contest highlighting local manufacturing firms. The goal is to simultaneously educate students about careers in manufacturing while having them use their skills and teamwork to brainstorm, shoot and edit two-minute clips.
Of course, COVID-19 created additional hurdles. Students weren’t permitted to visit workplaces to obtain video or hold in-person videos, relying solely on submitted media and conference calls.
And that was just the beginning.
“We were never in the same room all of us at the same time,” Adams said. “I had at most one student actually in the classroom with me after school. We were working with only two students by the end of the year, and the other was on Zoom, so we were constantly having trouble with general tech issues.
“I still haven’t met one of the students in person.”
The end result was a professional-quality commercial about the different products manufactured by American Polarizers — primarily optical technology such as lenses — and jobs its workers perform, all narrated by employees.
Frederick and Hoover often worked after school school hours to splice audio from interviews and pore through photo submissions to create a cohesive video.
“These kids were staying until 4:30 (p.m.) after staring at their screens all day, still committed to making something presentable and get the job done,” Adams said.
“And what turned out — the name of the award says it all. It was outstanding. I’m incredibly proud of their persistence.”
The WSCAM award ceremony was broadcasted on Monday, but Adams was in attendance at the show live the previous week.
“My jaw dropped and I started tearing up,” Adams said. “To get any award meant the world, but to hear the words ‘most outstanding,’ I got very emotional.”
He then held a watch party for the students — naturally, over Zoom.
“I filmed them as they found out and oh my goodness,” Adams said of their reactions.
“It was so great to have some good news after this year. To have recognition for hard work and to show determination and commitment regardless of the obstacles showed they can accomplish great things.”
It was Exeter’s third year entering the competition. The school was shut out on awards the previous year, but was honored for best editing in 2019.