TCC day camps introduces new career options for girls

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - TCC’s Center for Workforce Development and Workforce Plus will hold a camp entitled Girls Empowered in Manufacturing (GEM), June 15-18. The camp will be held on TCC’s main campus and attended by 25 girls pre-selected from Gadsden County Schools, ages 16-18, from Gadsden County. Funding for the camp comes through a grant from the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners and the Foundation of Fabricators and Manufacture’s Association, International – Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs initiative. Additional support for the camp is provided by the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 592. GEM will introduce young women to welding and metal fabrication with the goal of encouraging them to consider a career in welding or metal fabricating.

Girls who successfully complete the GEM camp will participate in a second camp June 22-25 – Mentoring A Girl in Construction (MAGIC). The MAGIC camp will introduce the young women to various skilled construction crafts, including masonry, plumbing, solar energy and electrical. The second week of camp is supported through funds provided by the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners, TCC, Workforce Plus, the City of Tallahassee Utilities Department, FL Masonry Apprentices & Educational Foundation, Inc. and Chapter 72 of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).

According to Rick Frazier, Director at TCC’s Center for Workforce Development, these two camps offer a great opportunity for young women to learn and experience nontraditional jobs. “For women to be competitive with their male counterparts, women need to think about getting trained in the occupations typically held by men. These nontraditional jobs provide a good-living wage. People can make over $12 per hour (the State of FL - Agency for Workforce Innovation lists welding as an in-demand occupation in north Florida, with an average wage of over $12 per hour) just by making the right career choice. Our camps want to offer options to young women entering the workforce in a few years.”

For more information on these TCC camps, contact 201-8337 or email trades@tcc.fl.edu.