At a Glance
Middle Bucks Institute of Technology is partnering with the Bucks County Career Pathways Partnership and the Bucks County Workforce Development Board to create a series of “A Day in the Life” workplace videos showcasing area business partners. The goal of the videos is to help students gain a better understanding of the daily operations of a company and the career opportunities available in the region.
Description
The Bucks County Career Pathway Partnership is working to develop a network of schools, businesses, and other partners to expand educational opportunities and life pathways for students so they can make informed post-graduation decisions and develop employability skills. As part of this effort, Middle Bucks Institute of Technology (MBIT), the Bucks County Career Pathways Partnership and the Bucks County Workforce Development Board collaborated to develop the “A Day in the Life” video series.
Produced by two MBIT Multimedia Technology students from September 2020 to March 2021, each of the videos provides an inside look at a featured company. The first series of videos includes tours of Visit Bucks County, M&S Centerless Grinding, Peddler’s Village (a shopping, dining and lodging village), PECO Energy, and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). (Two videos were made for SEPTA due to the diversity of their services.)
The Bucks County Workforce Development Board (BCWDB) used the Business and Education Grant to compensate the Multimedia Technology students for their videography services. Because the BCWDB is now managed through the Bucks County Government, it is not permitted to hire the students directly. To address this challenge, MBIT partnered with Headhouse Media, an independent video production company, and placed the students on a co-op assignment using the grant funds to pay their salary.
MBIT and BCWDB plan to make a total of five workplace tour videos for the business and industry partners associated with Career Bucks Ready. Ms. Strouse, Administrative Director of MBIT, points to four essential conditions that have made the video project successful so far:
-
- The willingness of business partners to work with students to create the videos,
- The BCWDB’s funding sources to compensate the students for their work,
- The ability of the talented students to work independently, and
- The commitment of the instructor to coach the students behind the scenes to assure the videos were professional.
The final videos will be posted to the Career Ready Bucks website. They will also be distributed to the school districts to post on their district networks and on social media sites.
Impact
MBIT and BCWDB have received positive feedback from the companies that volunteered for the videos. For example, after filming took place, Kevin Troy, SEPTA Chief Technical Instructor, noted, “The students were fantastic! They stayed focused and conducted themselves professionally. They did an excellent job of representing Middle Bucks Institute of Technology and the Multimedia program there. I was very impressed with them. Now I’m looking forward to the finished product.”
Contact
Middle Bucks Institute of Technology
https://www.mbit.org/
Kathryn Strouse, Administrative Director
kstrouse@mbit.org