Walla Walla Community College event puts spotlight on girls in trades

Fifteen girls from the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley are figuring out which industry and trade they are going to run one day.

The students from Lewiston and Clarkston high schools learned about career opportunities and trades at the Girls Represented in the Trades, or GRIT, event that took place Friday at the Clarkston branch of Walla Walla Community College in collaboration with the YWCA.

Andrew Wade, the student success navigator at WWCC, said students were broken into two groups and went to five sessions that highlight WWCC programs.

Industrial mechanics is the electricians’ program, where students can work toward an apprenticeship.

Welding offers two programs: technology and specialized metals, which are used in the local boating industry.

Business agriculture gives students marketing skills.

The business accounting field helps startups get the accounting basics to run a business.

Then there’s the STEM portion, which showed options in science, technology, engineering and math.

“Women haven’t always been given recognition for their contributions to science,” said Lori Loseth, biology instructor at WWCC.

At the STEM session, Loseth and chemistry instructor Sarah Egbert taught DNA, genetics and blood samples. Students used their new knowledge to solve a crime by testing blood samples to determine a blood type and find a suspect.

The discussion of genetics caused laughs when students began to stick out their tongues to see if they had the ability to roll them, which is a genetic trait. Egbert and Loseth highlighted areas in science, technology, engineering and math that offer numerous career opportunities.

“Don’t think of it as a straightforward path,” Egbert said. “There are hundreds of things you can do in science.”

She said she knew someone who worked for Kraft as a chemist and developed Easy Mac macaroni and cheese cups.

Cosmetologists also use chemistry to create make-up products.

Other careers, like art, can use chemistry. Egbert said art restoration uses science to analyze pigments and paints.

“You should find what your passion is and we (at WWCC) can help you get started,” Loseth said.

Welding was the favorite stop for two CHS sophomores, Raeli Glass and Stacey Jandreau. Glass is already taking welding at CHS and the experience “helped me learn a lot.” Jandreau is also in the welding class and wants to go into underwater welding as a career.

“It would be pretty cool to witness all that and the sea life underwater,” she said.

Other students, like Myquela Bauer and Ava Duman, preferred the industrial mechanics session. Bauer, a CHS sophomore, enjoyed that the program “lets us do things hands-on” and she got to use electrical wiring.

Duman said she wants to be a farmer and an engineer, so the demonstration helped her learn “how lights work and what wires you need.”

Mackenzie Coimbra is also looking into an agricultural career but wants to incorporate welding. The LHS junior said her grandpa and dad have experience in welding and farming, and it’s an area that always interested her.

“I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” she said.

Coimbra said the farm her grandpa worked on is still in the family and one day she wants to take it over.

The event is also an opportunity for students to learn about the college and its programs. It also lets young women explore industries and careers that don’t include many women. Wade said some girls learn that “this field is right for you and you can break into it.”

Nellie Frost is the YWCA advocate coordinator and helped organize the GRIT event. Part of her role at the YWCA is to develop programs to help teens have a healthy future.

Frost said it’s important for girls to be in trade and STEM careers because there are lots of opportunities in those fields, which are typically male-dominated. She said women do well in those careers, which are well-paid. Events like GRIT also expose them to opportunities they might not know are there.

“But also showing how they can be interconnected,” Frost said.

She explained that many skills from one trade or career can transfer to another, like electricians using welding, and any trade study can use business.

It’s the second year Lewiston’s YWCA has partnered with colleges to offer the GRIT day. The YWCA heard about a similar program in Montana and developed one for the Lewiston-Clarkston Valleye.

The event is sponsored by Schweitzer Engineering Labs and Washington Trust Bank, which helps provide T-shirts, food and other swag. Frost said professors and instructors were excited about the event.

“We didn’t turn anybody down,” Frost said. “We ended up with quite a few different workshops.”

“We just love having these types of events to engage with students,” Wade said.

The first GRIT event was held in summer 2022, so this year it was decided to hold it during the school year. Frost is hoping it becomes an annual event and the number of students grows.

Some girls were already involved in trade and STEM programs, like welding and electrician courses. Frost said they try to get a group of “eclectic” students, meaning students from different social groups, academic backgrounds and interests.

“We want to get a group of everybody,” Frost said.

Then the students can return to their school or their friends and tell them about the event.

“(It will) spread interest, not only in GRIT, but also in these opportunities,” Frost said.

More information at www.wwcc.edu/ or contact the student success navigator at (509)758-1700

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.