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<\/p>\nDid you know there are currently more than 10,000 people enrolled in building trades apprenticeship programs in the state of Minnesota?<\/p>\n
However, women and nonbinary persons are still less likely than men to join an apprenticeship. According to a 2018 report by the Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan public policy institute, only 7.2% of registered individuals in apprenticeships identify as women.<\/p>\n
Learn2Build program manager Mary DesJarlais knows that changing a statistic takes time, but it also takes a community effort.<\/p>\n
Recently, DesJarlais watched a community of mentors, construction professionals and guardians empower young girls and nonbinary students to say yes to construction through the Learn2Build summer construction camp hosted in partnership with Dunwoody College of Technology and the Minneapolis YWCA.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s critical to expose women and nonbinary people to construction earlier to make them aware of careers that align with their passions,\u201d DesJarlais said. \u201cThis starts with how we talk to our young students about building and working with their hands and it continues on when they start school and participate in camps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thirteen young girls and nonbinary students took part in the camp that was hosted over four days. Learn2Build camp is funded by the Construction Careers Foundation (constructioncareers.org), a Minneapolis-St. Paul-based nonprofit that promotes STEM skills and construction-based activities with students in grades 5-10.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year we try to create one camp just devoted to empowering students who identify as non-binary or as a woman,\u201d DesJarlais said. \u201cWe want them to be surrounded by role models who look just like them. We want them to know what it\u2019s like to be a person who does activities usually stereotyped as \u2018just for boys.\u2019 Construction has no gender. Construction is for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
DesJarlais and Learn2Build volunteers recruited this year\u2019s campers from the Minneapolis YWCA Eureka program and partnered with Dunwoody Construction Trainer Heather Gay and Dunwoody HVAC, Electrical, Survey and design programs to create a camp that introduces the young people to a variety of construction careers and construction-related skill sets.<\/p>\n
\u201cCampers built birdhouses, marshmallow launchers, did surveying exercises and toured Dunwoody College of Technology to explore the different departments that use construction skills,\u201d DesJarlais said. \u201cMy favorite part of organizing this camp is that it\u2019s a safe space for girls and nonbinary students to explore tools and building without the stigma of not being \u2018good enough\u2019 or \u2018strong enough.\u2019 A lot of tool-based learning is not about strength but rather how to use the tool properly and safely.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Learn2Build camp provided the students with real life construction materials for each project and taught them how to read blueprints, measure and cut building materials.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom start to finish on the first day, we saw our campers were excited about the projects and took pride in their work,\u201d DesJarlais said. \u201cMany of the participants expressed interest in taking \u2018more camps like this.\u2019 Some are considering signing up for classes at school that offer hands-on building projects. Hearing these kinds of comments always pumps me up!\u201d<\/p>\n
More Learn2Build camp opportunities are planned for this fall and an events schedule can be found on ConstructionCareers.org. Learn2Build campers were sent home with additional construction materials to complete a tiling project and a grout kit.<\/p>\n
Bring Learn2Build to your School<\/strong><\/p>\n Click here <\/a>for more information on Learn2Build or contact Mary DesJarlais<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Did you know there are currently more than 10,000 people enrolled in building trades apprenticeship programs in the state of Minnesota? However, women and nonbinary persons are still less likely than men to join an apprenticeship. According to a 2018 report by the Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan public policy institute, only 7.2% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n