Cabell County School honored for winning MakerMinded competition

CABELL COUNTY, W. Va. (WOWK) – West Virginia’s MakerMinded program is designed to get high school students interested in manufacturing. 34 schools across the state participated in the program’s inaugural competition and Cabell Midland High School took home the top prize.

The school secured the top scores for their students’ outstanding performance in MakerMinded, and will each receive educational robotics technology to enhance their STEM curriculum.

On Friday, students at Cabell Midland were honored by The West Virginia University Center for Excellence in STEM Education, WV Forward and national manufacturing innovation institute Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow also known as LIFT.

Friday’s celebration also will launch the second annual statewide competition, which recognizes student achievements in advanced manufacturing and STEM, demonstrated through the use of the digital learning platform, MakerMinded.

The program directly links students in 34 schools across the Mountain State to a diverse range of national and local advanced manufacturing programs, including facility tours, gaming activities, and project-based learning. MakerMinded also includes a competition component, as students and schools receive points for each completed activity.

In partnership with LIFT and the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Defense Education program, MakerMinded launched in West Virginia in the fall of 2018 to inspire more middle and high school students to pursue advanced manufacturing careers and equip them with the complex, technical skills in demand at West Virginia’s more than 1,000 manufacturers that currently employ more than 47,000 employees.

In partnership with LIFT and the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Defense Education program, MakerMinded launched in West Virginia in the fall of 2018 to inspire more middle and high school students to pursue advanced manufacturing careers, which is one of the industries identified by WV Forward as ripe for economic and job growth.