By Ranada Robinson, Project Associate. When I was in junior high and high school, my mom sent me to various summer camps at Pineywoods Country Life School, Jackson State University, and Alcorn State University. Each of the programs I attended was focused on academic enrichment in STEM subjects: math, chemistry, computer programming, and the like. It was through these programs that I was exposed to how I could use the math I loved so much in practical ways. By the time I got to college, I already knew that I wanted to major in mathematics and computer science.

 

My personal experiences are just examples of how youth programs are worthy workforce development initiatives. As communities search for proactive ways to strengthen and grow talent, ensuring that there is a trained workforce available for their industries, it is important to remember that our youth will one day join the workforce. Exposing them to high-wage careers available in the community while they are in junior high and high school is a sure-fire way to grow competitive homegrown talent. In addition, targeting minority populations increases diversity over the long-term.

 

Since 2007, the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Calhoun Community College Tech Prep Consortium has done its part to take a proactive approach to increasing diversity in high-wage technical fields. The Summer Welding & Electrical Technology Camp for Girls (SWeETy Camp) is in its fourth year of exposing high school girls to the technical careers in the Decatur area. The week-long camp was modeled after the BE&K Girl Power summer camp, which introduces high school girls to construction and engineering careers and provides introductory training in welding, carpentry, and electrical crafts.

 

Over the last 4 years, the SWeETy camp has grown from 9 participants in 2007 to 21 in 2010, even attracting students from Louisiana. Activities have included learning hands-on technical skills that strengthen problem-solving skills and teamwork, field trips, and interactions with women who are industry professionals, such as Holley Thomas, a certified structural welder for KBR, an engineering, construction and services company, and the first woman to receive top honors in the national ABC National Craft Championships. Hands-on projects have included cutting names into pieces of steels and welding the pieces into base plates, wiring a box with two outlets and a switch that turns on the light, a miniature version of framing a house before adding drywall, assembling lamps, and building flag holders. Field trips have included tours of United Launch Alliance, Turner Industries, M&D Mechanical, Goss Electric, DHS Systems, Inc., and Redstone Arsenal. This year, while touring Redstone Arsenal, the participants were afforded the opportunity to see first-hand the welding being done by Boeing for NASA on the Ares Rocket.

 

The SWeETy camp empowers young girls and expands their options for their futures. The program guides them into the math and science classes needed to prepare them for post-secondary education and certification that will grant them access to these lucrative, traditionally male fields. It’s important that communities invest in youth—developing them translates into stronger community development for us all.