What’s So Cool About Manufacturing 2026
The “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” (WSCM) contest, funded by the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), is an educational initiative designed to introduce middle school students to careers in manufacturing through hands-on-video production. This year marked MRC’s 10th anniversary of the program.
The students are given minimal supervision and must draft, create, and execute an idea of their choosing from start to finish over the course of several months. The objective of the contest is to challenge the many stereotypes surrounding careers in manufacturing and to raise awareness of the variety of rewarding opportunities in the field.
Viwinco Windows has been a participant in the WSCM initiative, both as a sponsor and a highlighted manufacturer since 2019 as a member of the Berks-Schuylkill counties chapter. This year marked our eighth year as sponsors for What’s So Cool About Manufacturing! For the 2026 season, we were paired with students from Kutztown Area Middle School.
Kutztown Area Middle School + Viwinco!
Throughout the 2025 holiday season, the students visited our facility multiple times for their video. The first visit was focused solely on learning about Viwinco, its history, and its many different processes throughout our campus. During that initial visit, we also had a special four-legged guest, one of our IT team members brought in her Golden Retriever, Luna. The students were immediately inspired and developed their entire video concept around Luna’s perspective. They loved her so much that they requested she come back for filming day!
During their visits, our Marketing team provided an overview of the company before the group was given a detailed tour of our campus. The students took thorough notes and asked thoughtful questions about our processes, but also the best things to film!
Their following visits were centered around filming. They filmed interviews with a few of our key company members, including our CEO Mike Duncan, our R&D Manager Ben Manderachi, our Software Developer Alannah, and our Production Supervisor Tony Franco. Each person interviewed gave talked about what makes Viwinco, and manufacturing, so cool! In their following visits, they worked hard to execute their vision and to film the coolest things around Viwinco.
The Video
The video begins with the students entering our R&D Center for a tour to be greeted by their furry tour guide, Luna. Their video narrates their journey touring Viwinco, both through their eyes, and through the “DOG CAM” eyes of Luna herself. The students had to plan out both regular human shots and dog cam shots. Due to safety regulations, Luna was not allowed on the manufacturing floor, so the team had to act out her point of view shots themselves, which was fun to see and plan.
Throughout the video, interview clips are used to explain Viwinco’s market, how we identify customer needs, and the core principles that guide our day-to-day operations. The final product captures both the technical side of manufacturing and the people behind it.
The Awards Ceremony
On April 15th, we had the pleasure of attending the contest’s 10-year anniversary awards ceremony at the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania. The event brought together over 1,000 attendees—including students, teachers, community leaders, sponsors, parents, and manufacturers.
The evening kicked off with speeches from the hosts, followed by the presentation of awards to standout student groups from the Berks-Schuylkill area. This year also included a special spotlight on WSCM alumni, showcasing how their participation influenced their educational and career paths.
This was an excellent ceremony that truly worked to celebrate all the students, teachers, and manufacturers involved.
Looking Forward
Participating in the WSCM competition is a fantastic opportunity to engage with the community, and we take pride in contributing to the education of the next generation in manufacturing.
We are thankful for MRC for facilitating the program and selecting us to participate, and to our wonderful student and teacher team at Kutztown Area Middle school for their great work!
To see a full list of award recipients visit the Berks Schuylkill contest page
All student videos can be seen on this page too.
Additional updates can be seen on the WSCM Berks and Schuylkill social media pages below:
