Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Power UP! for Girls Interested in Construction Careers


Power UP! It's a Mother-Daughter Thing!
     Oh my goodness! When GranFran and I arrived at the Alabama Workforce Training Center in Birmingham on Tuesday evening, we weren't exactly sure what we would find. After all, the Power UP: It's a Mother Daughter Thing event we were attending was the first of its kind for central Alabama.
Note the hands-on bricklaying
being prepared for the girls
in the 
background -
they loved it!
     But what we found was teams of moms and middle-school/high-school daughters from three counties -- LOTS of them! -- pumped about exploring careers in construction.
A special treat for the girls
was hearing from
 Kayleen McCabe,
host of the popular
"Rescue Renovation"
show on the
DIY Network.
(Note her "Rosie"
lunchbox/purse - how
fun is that!)
Fox 6 anchors Ronda Robinson
and Janice Rogers were
on hand to cheer on
the girls!
    And when I say exploring, I mean having hands-on experiences with bricklaying, virtual welding, driving nails, and more. I mean hearing from and talking with successful executive women in construction from around the country who flew in to share their expertise. I mean interacting with 20 contractors about possibilities, as well as representatives from construction-related businesses and organizations. I mean chatting with reps from several universities about training in construction careers.
     All in a girly-girl atmosphere, complete with hot pink, lime green,and purple balloons, not to mention the pink swirly-top raspberry-filled cupcakes. It was awesome!
     Click here to see CBS Channel 42's coverage of the event.
Girls got to meet successful women in 
construction, like Lucy Thompson Marsh 
from Thompson Tractor and Caterpillar.
     GranFran had a table in the hands-on room, where she explained informally the historical Rosie the Riveter perspective, and encouraged the girls and moms to look for a WW II Rosie in their family tree and (of course!) join the American Rosie the Riveter Assocation. Over and often, we find how women's construction groups have embraced the Rosie legacy, since Rosies opened the door for women to fill roles in the work force that were traditionally filled by men. And judging by the number of girls and moms --  and men! -- who lined up to have their picture made with GranFran, the new generation is catching the point of Rosie's part in the process.
    The event was organized by Mittie Cannon of Robins & Morton construction and engineering company, Antiqua Cleggett of the Central Six Development Council, and the folks at Girl's Inc. of Central Albama.
     GREAT JOB!!! to all who put together this extraordinary event. Thanks for letting us be a part of it!

1 comment:

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