Charleston, WV, April 12, 2021 – The West Virginia Manufacturers Association Educational Fund Inc. (WVMAEF) announced today the awarding of a $17,000 grant from the EQT Foundation to support the expansion of programming across the North Central West Virginia and the Mid- Ohio Valley regions. The grant will directly benefit middle and high school students from Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Tyler, and Wetzel counties by supporting interactive educational activities that create student awareness and excitement about manufacturing careers and the subsequent educational pathways toward those opportunities.
“As the philanthropic division of EQT Corporation, the nation’s largest natural gas producer, the EQT Foundation is excited to bring more experiential learning opportunities to students in north central West Virginia,” said Ellen Rossi, President, EQT Foundation. “Through these highly innovative and hands-on programs, it is our hope that students will develop a passion for manufacturing and energy jobs and further explore ways to turn those passions into self- sustaining careers in their home state,” Elizabeth Rossi, President EQT Foundation.
The EQT grant will support the expansion of three specific initiatives:
The Explore the New Manufacturing Academies bring together multiple middle schools and manufacturers for a full day of hands-on activities to directly connect with industrial careers available locally. Over the past three years, the manufacturer-created lab experiences have generated interest and enthusiasm about the various positions manufacturing offers throughout the region.
What's So Cool About Manufacturing? Student Video Contest is a video competition wherein middle school teams are partnered with local manufacturers. Teams are responsible for making a three-minute video to promote to their peers that answers the contest's question related to their manufacturing partner. The event culminates with an awards ceremony where winners are recognized for Best Manufacturing Message and Viewers’ Choice awards, among others.
Explore's SCRAP Competition is a regional contest for high school teams from Career and Technical Education programs. Using donated scrap manufacturing material supplied by local manufacturers, teams create artwork that amplifies the various themes. These one-day events conclude with an awards recognition for the team that receive that highest score for aesthetics, durability, adherence to theme, and workmanship by the judge's panel.
“The Explore Program is grateful for EQT’s generous support,” said Program Director Monica Cross, who oversees the Explore the New Manufacturing Program on behalf of the WVMAEF efforts to create student awareness and excitement about careers in manufacturing and the training opportunities for these positions in their local areas. “These funds will allow us to advance initiatives and expand outreach to middle and high schools across two critical programming regions of the state.”
