More than 900 Northampton Area Middle School students packed into the school gym recently for a Konkrete Kid assembly.

The event took on the air of a pep rally with student teams named after the five remaining cement plants in the region plus that of the former Atlas Cement Manufacturing Company, once located in the borough.

The program began with an antibullying address by Principal Patrice M. Turner.

Ed Pany, a retired Northampton Area High School teacher and curator of the Atlas Cement Memorial Museum, delivered the principal address, speaking about the history of the borough and the schools.

"There were once 30 operating cement plants in the region," Pany said.

Pany noted many arrived into the area from countries such as Austria and Hungary to work at plants such as Atlas, which produced cement for some of the world's largest projects, such as the Panama Canal and the Empire State Building.

Pany explained the name Northampton was given to the borough in 1909, mainly by the efforts of the Atlas executives.

"Pride, responsibility, respect your teachers, respect your classmates, respect yourself, Konkrete spirit," Pany said. Students cheered as he closed his address.

After the address, the seventh- and eighth-grade student body broke into teams, which are named after cement companies. The idea for team names came from Turner as a way to instill teamwork, leadership, respect and an understanding of local history. The students met with cement company representatives in the school, gym, library and cafeterias. They saw PowerPoint presentations and historic photographs on display.

Team Atlas students were given a presentation from Larry Oberly and Pany. Lafarge plant Manager Lorraine Faccenda and Geri Snyder spoke to the Lafarge team. Team Lehigh huddled with Bryan Denion and Kim Olesak; Team Keystone with Jeff Kaboly; Team Hercules with Keith Williams; and Team Essroc with Mellisa Fritz.

The teams during the year will participate in classroom discussions with the cement company representatives and tour the plants. Faccenda said Lafarge affords careers in engineering, business, technology and other fields.