- Meyersdale Area School District
- Overview
Vote for STEM video!
The Meyersdale Red Raider STEM team, comprised of Meyersdale Middle School students, has researched the work of a local company in their efforts to win a content entitled “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Students spent two days learning about the work at 4-Guys Fire Trucks and are proud of their efforts to capture the essence of this local manufacturing plant.
Voting has opened for the contest and our Meyersdale Middle School STEM team needs your help! Voting for People’s Choice will be held from March 4 through 8. Visit the announcements tab on www.masd.net to vote as many times as you would like! You can also visit https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/pittsburgh-east/ to vote.
This annual manufacturing video contest is sponsored through Catalyst Connection, a non-profit. The first manufacturing video contest originated in the Lehigh Valley in 2013. The program was replicated in Southwestern Pennsylvania in 2015 beginning with eight companies and schools and has since grown to more than 40 participants. The program has expanded to include 12 regional competitions across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To learn more about the statewide program go to: https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/about-the-contests/.
The goals of the contest include: increased awareness of careers in manufacturing; peer-to-peer cooperation; highlight the need for a skilled workforce in the manufacturing industry; demonstrate the connection between the arts and manufacturing; and engage local manufacturing companies with local school districts.
Under the direction and leadership of Mrs. Angel Floyd, K-12 Media Specialist, students began working in the of Fall 2018 to create a video that highlights the engineering, design, management and operation of 4-Guys Fire Trucks. Members include: DJ Roush, Shelby Hetz, Arianna Shaffer, Emily Raley, Kahlyn Hoover, Bradin Schrock and Casey Beitzel.
Students met with the management team of the local business, as well as employees. Students were given an extensive tour of the plant and were able to observe the process of building custom-built fire apparatus. Students conducted interviews of employees and recorded the process. 4-Guys Fire Trucks, which marked its 44th anniversary in 2018, regards itself as a regional builder, consistently producing between 60 and 70 pieces of apparatus annually and boasting yearly sales in excess of $17 million.
For the past several weeks, students have been editing their footage to create a three-minute video and to create a marketing plan focusing on the quality and highly-skilled work done each day at 4-Guys Fire Trucks.
President and CEO, Mark Albright, said he was impressed with the students and pleased to have the opporunity to particpate in this project.
“This is the first time that we participated in the ‘What’s So Cool About Manufacturing Video Series’ and it was a good experience,” Albright explained. “The students were very attentive while I explained the manufacturing process of building fire trucks and they had good questions.”
Now completed, their video is in competition with the work of other schools in the Eastern Region, featuring the following companies: Clark Metal Products; ITI Trailers & Truck Bodies; JWF Industries; Lockheed Martin AeroParts; J&J Truck Bodies; ASSA ABLOY - Rockwood Products; DeVilbiss, Global SFC Valve; Guy Chemical; and the Cambria County Association for the Blind and Handicapped.
All videos have been uploaded to the Catalyst Connection website at http://www.catalystconnection.org/video-contest/. Beginning March 4, people are invited to view the videos and vote on their favorites through March 8. To vote for the efforts of our Red Raider STEM team, please go to the school’s website and click on the Announcements tab.