91ÊÓƵ

Sparks flew as Kila Ung etched the word “love” onto a piece of metal.

“I got to weld the letters myself – so fun,” she said. “I like the sparks, and it changed colors, and I liked that.”

Kila, 14, tested her welding skills during Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.‘s 22nd annual Women in Trades Career Fair at the NECA-IBEW Electrical Training Center in Portland. The Portland Village School eighth-grader on Thursday was one of more than 600 girls from across Oregon who attended Middle School Girls’ Day.

The three-day fair, geared to draw more women into construction and other trades, offered hands-on activities and workshops for different age groups. On Friday, 629 Oregon high school students got a taste of various trades, including carpentry, electrical and sustainability. The fair was open to the general public on Saturday.

Many schools focus on preparing students for college with little emphasis on alternative career paths, said Connie Ashbrook, executive director of OTI, a Portland-based nonprofit. The fair is intended to bridge that gap.

“There’s not really a venue for especially young girls, young women, to learn about (the trades),” she said.

The best way to show women that they could become a carpenter, welder, electrician or other skilled tradesperson is to let them try it out, Ashbrook said.

“For all of our attendees, the more hands-on the better,” she said. “This is the way that girls and women can experiment with the tools to be successful in the trades.”

This is one reason why some schools have made fair attendance a tradition.

“We have many, many teachers who for many, many years come back with their young women,” Ashbrook said. “You actually get to make something and take it home.”

The opportunity to try carpentry and welding is a big appeal for Kila. After attending last year, she was eager to come back.

“Building a house was really fun,” Kila said. “I would do it as a job.”

Kara Putman, 14, an eighth-grader at Tillamook Junior High School, spent a portion of the fair building a wooden puzzle. She appreciated being able to put school lessons into context.

“I really like math and science, so I thought it would be good to experience this type of thing,” Kara said. “It’s a good experience to find out what I like.”

The hands-on activities were fun, said Sabri Freeman, 14, a Portland Village School eighth-grader. But she also liked meeting tradeswomen and learning from them.

“It’s inspiring to see these women doing jobs that some people think are only meant for men,” she said.

Her eighth-grade classmate, Delaney McEvoy, 14, agreed.

“It’s really empowering,” she said. “I can do this too.”

This is why Sam Batman, the receptionist at Phoenix Charter School in Roseburg, regularly brings a group of high school girls to the fair.

“They leave feeling powerful,” she said. “I bring them because this wasn’t done for me as a kid, and I wish it had been.”

Before becoming a receptionist, Batman was a heavy equipment operator. She started at age 30, but would have entered the construction field sooner if she had been aware of opportunities in high school.

Every year, Phoenix Charter School students hold fundraisers like bake sales and car washes so they can attend the fair.

“They talk about it the whole ride home,” Batman said. “They’re like, ‘I didn’t know this existed, let alone I could do it.’ It just shows them opportunity abounds.”