Lengel teams succeed in technology contests

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Photo from the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” video

Northeast Prestressed Products is the company at the center of the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” video made by a group of eighth graders at Lengel. The group won the contest. “Most of the inspiration for the video came from the manufacturer itself,” eighth grader Ayva Strauss said. “Interviewing skills are very important and we learned a lot about this and video editing skills.”

When seventh grader Dominic Steidle competed at the Regional Computer Fair March 5, he wasn’t expecting to come out on top. When his team was announced as the winner of the programming category, he was surprised.

“It was very joyful,” Steidle said. “We were not expecting to win.”

Steidle worked with seventh graders Nick Giuffre and James Malek. This group along with sixth grader Chloe Oberheim, who placed first for animation, and eighth graders Gwen Hamilton and Emilee Rose, who placed first for logo design, will move on to the state computer fair, which will be held May 23 at Dickinson College, because of their regional victories.

“I was very interested in computers when I was younger,” Steidle said. “We really didn’t think we were going to place [at the computer fair] but when we found out we got first, we were very happy and joyful.”

The Schuylkill County Regional Computer Fair was held March 5 at the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29. All Lengel groups that entered the regional computer fair either won their respective category or came in second. At regionals, eighth grader Aidan Moran and seventh grader Bryce Sadowski placed second for digital movie, and eighth grader Aubreyanna Rickard placed second for graphic design.

Five eighth graders from Lengel teamed to make a video for the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” video contest. To enter the contest, participating middle schools had to create a two-and-a-half-minute video about a manufacturer in Berks or Schuylkill County. The Lengel group did its video about Northeast Prestressed Products, a company in Pottsville. The contest ended in victory for winning team members Ayva Strauss, Justin Sickle, Mario Ortiz, Aidan Moran and Logan Miscannon.

“The main goal for us is always to try and learn a little bit more, and to get that experience,” Mr. Jonathan Hughes, Lengel STEM Club adviser, said. “I know that some students have already said that they want to go on and learn more about whatever it was that they competed in.”