Voting is open for the third annual "What's So Cool About Manufacturing?" student video contest.

Eighth-grade students from school districts in Carbon, Schuylkill, Lehigh, Northampton, and Bucks counties are involved in the contest.During the past four months, 30 student teams have researched and filmed 30 local manufacturers, interviewed employees, and edited their work to present their final two-minute video for judging.The video with the most votes will receive the "Viewer's Choice" award. They will also be reviewed by a panel of judges for awards in other categories such as outstanding educational value and outstanding creativity. The contest received over 100,000 votes during the three-day voting period in its first and second year.Voting is open through 11:59 p.m. Friday at the "Dream It. Do It. Pennsylvania" website, dreamitdoitpa.com."It was a definite learning experience," said Rose Strubinger, keyboarding and computer applications teacher at Lawrence B. Morris Elementary School in Jim Thorpe. "The students were able to learn both about a manufacturing business and the video editing process."Welding and electrical jobs, for example, are in high demand, and Strubinger said through the video contest she hoped her students realized what the manufacturing industry in the area has to offer."We have really good companies like Ametek and Kovatch," she said. "College isn't for everyone, and I think a lot of people don't realize you can go straight from high school into one of these trades and be really successful."The videos feature the following area school district and manufacturer pairings:Palmerton-Blue Ridge Pressure CastingJim Thorpe-AmetekWeatherly-Weatherly Casting and MachineNorthwestern Lehigh-Ocean Spray CranberriesLehighton-Architectural PolymersNorthern Lehigh-Atlas Machining and WeldingPanther Valley-KME KovatchTamaqua-Highwood USAWinners will be honored at an awards ceremony at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks on Feb. 23."The program's success is spreading across the state and around the country," said Jack Pfunder, executive director of the Manufacturers Resource Center, a lead partner of the competition. The program, which promotes STEM education, helps foster a new understanding of opportunities in manufacturing careers."