Some girls covered their ears as a jackhammer emitted loud blasts and sent streams of dust into the air, but Breah Etherly’s eyes lit up during a concrete breaker demonstration on Thursday.
Eighth-grader Ka'Terria Phillips, left, gets a lesson in tying rebar from Kirk Bearden, an ironworker with Local 29, during the 20th annual Women in Trades Career Fair. (Photo by Sam Tenney/DJC)
If you go:
What: Nontraditional career fair connecting girls and female job seekers to apprenticeship and job training opportunities in building, construction, mechanical, technical and utility trades.
When: Today, for registered high school girls; Saturday, for the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also on Saturday, at 1:30 p.m., Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. will present an information session about its free seven-week pre-apprenticeship class for women.
Where: NECA/IBEW Electrical Training Center, 16021 N.E. Airport Way in Portland
Cost: Free.
“It’s nice to say you tried something new,” said Etherly, an eighth-grader at Harvey Scott School. “Working with different tools is good exposure for girls.”
Nearly 600 girls from 21 middle schools revved up power tools, climbed electrical poles, built birdhouses and learned about careers in the trades to kick off this year’s event.
“Our efforts over the years have meant that Oregon has two times the number of women in trades compared to other states that don’t have similar efforts,” said
Connie Ashbrook, executive director of
Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., which started the fair in 1993.
Although many of the middle school students at the fair said they aren’t planning on pursuing careers in the trades, one of OTI’s goals is simply to expose more young women to the construction industry.
“Most of the girls have never used a power tool before and are afraid of the noise at first,” said Aida Aranda, an apprentice coordinator for the training trust. “But once they get out here, it encourages them to open their eyes.”
Zakeiba Ofusu, left, and Zharia Hale, both eighth-graders at the SEI Academy, learn to repair a broken water main at a station sponsored by the Portland Water Bureau. (Photo by Sam Tenney/DJC)
She added that middle school girls are becoming increasingly receptive to careers in the trades, especially as the industry ramps up its outreach through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
On the other side of the fair, roofers from Local 49 set up a table to demonstrate some of the materials and processes they use to build green roofing systems, which many of the students from H.B. Lee Middle School didn’t even know existed.
“These roofs actually help the environment and make things better for people,” seventh-grader Karly Emmett said.
The middle school girls built flowerpots using adhesives, primers and single-ply sheets that roofers use on the job.
Tationia Thompson, left, learns to connect structural beams under supervision from Kat Lakey, an ironworker with Local 29. (Photo by Sam Tenney/DJC)
The goal Thursday was mainly to demonstrate that “girls can do anything,” said Heidi Kameroff, a roofing apprentice who is directing the Local 49 workshop this year. But today, she added, the event will host hundreds of high school girls, who are more focused on career possibilities.
“We figure the middle school girls are just exploring at this point, so it’s good to give them a taste of what we do,” Kameroff said. “The high school girls will actually do some heat welding – it’s going to be really cool.”
A few high school students are ahead of the game, however. Juniors and seniors from
ACE Academy led a workshop on Thursday, helping younger girls build wooden puzzles.
ACE, a shared-time program for juniors and seniors interested in entering the building industries, is seeing more interest from girls. The school’s director, Mike Bryant, said the growth is a direct result of events like the Women in Trades Career Fair.
“Our population of female students has doubled this year,” he said. “Why? These events are having an impact; they’re changing the construction industry.”
