Amcor goes back to school to develop packaging for juice bottles, food containers and fruit snack pouches

The event at Amcor Rigid Plastics’ Manchester facility, will spotlight design concepts from 26 Luther C. Klager Elementary School fourth-graders as part of a six-week company-sponsored project.

Known as the 21st Century Global Cyber Pal Student Design Challenge, the project paired Manchester students in Joanna Van Raden’s fourth-grade class with 42 Australian third-and fourth-graders in Greensborough, Victoria, to develop the packaging.

“Collaboration with students in Australia has opened a whole new world of excitement made possible through advancements in technology and 21st century learning skills,​” said Van Raden, who has taught in Manchester for more than 30 years.

During the project, Manchester and Greensborough students shared their packaging design ideas through an online educational platform called Edmodo. They also viewed different weekly project video lessons compiled by two Amcor Rigid Plastics’ senior industrial designers, Rick Rangler and Greg Hurley.

“These videos emphasize the critical roles technology and teamwork play in creating innovative packaging designs,” said Rangler. “It also represents a peek behind the packaging design curtain for students who are interested in learning more about this line of work​.”

The project represents Amcor Rigid Plastics’ commitment to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

In April, Amcor Rigid Plastics awarded an $8,000 Amcor Community Program grant to provide four Luther C. Klager Elementary School classrooms with technology and furniture to enhance students’ 21st century STEM learning experience.