Inside the 2026 What's So Cool About Manufacturing Best of PA Awards

The statewide finals brought 22 student teams from 13 regional contests to the Whitaker Center, a Lehigh Valley school took first place for the fifth year in a row, and MRC had the full gallery the same day.

By Tony Ellis Martinez · TM Productions

A full house in the Whitaker Center theater, shot from the stage with string lights along the balconies — A full house at the Whitaker Center for the 2026 Best of PA awards.

Best of PA is the statewide final of What's So Cool About Manufacturing, the student video contest run by the Manufacturers Resource Center. Thirteen regional contests across Pennsylvania produced 166 student videos this year, and the 22 teams that came out on top in their regions met at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg on Wednesday, May 13, for the eighth annual statewide awards. A three-judge panel picks first, second and third place, and the public picks the statewide Viewers' Choice.

It was our second year photographing the statewide awards for MRC, and the full gallery of 118 edited photos went out the same day.

13REGIONAL CONTESTS

166STUDENT VIDEOS

22TEAMS AT STATES

5thSTRAIGHT LEHIGH VALLEY WIN

Before the doors opened

The Whitaker Center's theater has red seats and string lights wrapped around every balcony, so it photographs really well. We shot it empty first, with the statewide trophies at the front of the stage and the house lit up behind them, and then got the stage with a row of beach balls lined up along the edge. Out in the lobby, teams were already holding up their state finals T-shirts for anyone with a camera.

Three statewide trophies on the stage with the empty Whitaker Center theater and its string-lit balconies behind them — The statewide trophies on the stage before the doors opened.

The stage before the show, with the beach balls already lined up.

Students holding up What's So Cool About Manufacturing States 2026 T-shirts in the lobby — A team showing off its state finals shirts in the lobby.

The crowd before the awards

Before the first award was read, the beach balls went out into the crowd and a theater full of middle schoolers spent a few minutes keeping them in the air. We worked the aisles for faces and then shot wide from the stage to get the whole room, because that's the kind of photo the schools and MRC end up posting.

A student reaching up to catch a beach ball in the theater seats — Beach balls in the seats before the first award.

Students laughing in their seats with a beach ball overhead — Students keeping a beach ball in the air from their seats.

Beach balls flying over the crowd in the Whitaker Center theater, shot from the stage — Beach balls over the crowd, shot from the stage.

The emcee and speakers

Brittany Stephens of eMediaWorks emceed the afternoon, and MRC, which runs What's So Cool statewide, had its logo up on the big screen between speakers. We shot every speaker with the contest logo behind them, since that's the photo MRC and the regional partners actually post, and we kept turning around to get the crowd's reactions too.

Brittany Stephens smiling at a clear acrylic podium on a dark stage — Brittany Stephens of eMediaWorks at the podium before the program.

The MRC logo on the big screen, with Brittany Stephens at the podium.

Adults in the front rows of the theater applauding — The front rows applauding during the program.

2026 Best of PA winners

Here is how the 2026 statewide awards came out.

First placeNazareth Area Middle School, featuring B. Braun Medical Inc. (Lehigh Valley contest)
Second placeSaucon Valley Middle School, featuring Crayola (Lehigh Valley contest)
Third placeManheim Township Middle School, featuring Ecore International (South Central East contest)
Statewide Viewers' ChoiceSpringhouse Middle School, featuring Mack Trucks (Lehigh Valley contest)

That's the fifth year in a row a Lehigh Valley middle school has taken first place at the state level, according to LVEDC. MRC's Karen Buck said they were "so excited and proud to celebrate the Best of PA 2026 student teams and highlight their videos." Every winning team was called up and photographed on stage in front of the slide with its school's name on it, so each school has a photo with its name right there on the screen behind them.

The Nazareth Area Middle School team on stage in front of a slide announcing them as 2026 Best of Pennsylvania first place — First place: Nazareth Area Middle School, featuring B. Braun Medical.

The Saucon Valley Middle School team on stage in front of the second place slide — Second place: Saucon Valley Middle School, featuring Crayola.

The Manheim Township Middle School team on stage in front of the third place slide — Third place: Manheim Township Middle School, featuring Ecore International.

The Springhouse Middle School team on stage in front of the Best of PA Viewers' Choice slide — Statewide Viewers' Choice: Springhouse Middle School, featuring Mack Trucks.

Students posing and pointing at the camera on stage in front of the final winners slide — A winning team posing on stage at the end of the show.

The Lehigh Valley teams we photographed in March

Nazareth Area, Saucon Valley and Springhouse all won awards at the Lehigh Valley show at Stabler Arena in March, where we photographed them coming off the stage and onto our step and repeat, so it was fun to photograph the same students again in Harrisburg with state trophies this time.

Delivering the gallery

The full gallery went to MRC the same day, 118 edited photos covering the room before doors, the lobby, the crowd, every speaker and every winning team on stage. A statewide program has a lot of partners who want photos quickly, from the regional organizations to the schools and the manufacturers, and getting the gallery out the same day means they can post while people are still talking about the show.

Thanks to Karen Buck and MRC for having us in Harrisburg, and congratulations to Nazareth Area, Saucon Valley, Manheim Township, Springhouse and every team that made it to states.

Results, figures and quotes via MRC, WFMZ 69 News and LVEDC. Photos by TM Productions.