Philadelphia Construction Camp Prepare Girls for Industry Careers

Workforce Philadelphia Construction Camp Prepare Girls for Industry Careers Mentoring Young Women in Construction is completing its 17th summer of giving female campers hands on industry experience A summer day camps providing female students hands on construction experience has been thriving in Philadelphia for almost two decades. Mentoring Young Women in Construction provides girls entering grades seven through 12 the chance to learn about careers in construction, facilities management and the skilled trades. Mary Gaffney, president of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Philadelphia Foundation, who co-founded the camp, says MyWIC is “cultivating the next wave of female leaders in the skilled trades and construction industries.” RELATED Award of Excellence Winner Judaline Cassidy: Empower Girls to Consider Careers in Construction Now in its 17th summer, the two-week camp known as MyWIC held a session last month in Northeast Philadelphia and a separate session running earlier this month in South Philadelphia. Auri M.at the IBEW 98 Training Center where union apprentices taught her how to wire light switches and bend conduit. Courtesy of MyWIC Organized by NAWIC, the camp operates 100% off donations and is organized by a volunteer committee comprised of professional women from various union companies within the trades to expose campers to opportunities in engineering, construction management, architecture, and the trades. Campers tour job sites and make industry connections. Brianne Nevrotski, a volunteer committee chair for MYWIC, said the Northeast session, now in its third summer, “has gained huge interest” as it's located near several trade unions and draws campers who have parents already in the trades. This year, 110 girls applied for 41 spots, after 97 girls applied to both camps last year and only 35 were accepted at each location. “This year we expanded to a bigger bus so we could accept as many girls as possible and added nearly 60 registrations,” Nevrotski says. Nevrotski's parents own Concrete Cutting Systems, which operations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The firm has supported and volunteered for the MyWIC for five years. Nevrotski's daughter Payeton, 15, has also been a camper for the past two years and is strongly considering a welding career. Nevrotski's father Dave Nevrotski, says he likes that campers "can learn what construction is all about on a day-to-day basis," make money without a college degree and maybe even start their own business. “My wife and I started our company in the basement 30 years ago." Other sponsors for this year's camp include the General Building Contractors Association, NEST Integrated Facilities Management, the HRP Impact Foundation and the Karen M. Stone Foundation. Hatzel & Buehler Inc., a 142-year-old union electrical contractor that employs some 2,000 IBEW electricians, had some of its employees speak at the camp this year. “Programs like MYWIC provide an opportunity to challenge longstanding female stereotypes and misperceptions, introducing young women to rewarding career paths, and demonstrating that success in construction is not limited by gender,” says Joann Martin, Hatzel & Buehler's regional controller in Philadelphia. "This was a chance to make a meaningful impact on the campers while “helping cultivate the next generation of industry leaders.” Hatzel & Buehler Assistant Project Manager Meaghan Wood shared her experience of working on projects at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with campers, providing a firsthand look at a typical day as a female construction project manager. Wood also guided the campers through a bidding exercise, “allowing them to experience a key aspect of project management and decision making,” Martin says. MyWIC camp participants learn directly from apprentices by visiting local trade unions, including carpenters, sheet metal workers, ironworkers, bricklayers, laborers and electricians and finishing trades. Bridget Wisniewiski, 15, a returning, second year camper is the daughter of a home inspector, and her cousins work in the trades, one in scrap metal, another in carpentry. A third cousin is an HVAC tech, which got her interested in construction work. Last year Wisniewiski says she focused on all the basic trades. “Now I’m dialing in on what I want to do; I’m thinking of carpentry and the sheet metal union,” she says. “This year we’re going to job site tours; I’m excited.” Bridget Wisniewiski and other MyWIC campers worked with union apprentices at the IBEW Training Center learning to wire light switches and bend conduit. are under age 16, but I can check. Courtesy of MyWIC Wisniewiski traveled with the camp to two active job sites this summer, including the Durapods plant in Chalfont, Pa. and the Penn Medicine Montgomeryville, an outpatient center in North Wales, Pa., set to open in 2027. The girls learned about fabrication of bathroom pods for hospitals and hotel rooms. The daughter of an electrician, Auri Martinez, 13, enjoyed watching welding demos at camp to learn about cutting sheet metal. “It’s fun to see how you cut things with a metal machine and how metal things melt,” she says. “After the demonstrations, we made dangly decorations and I hung mine like a wind chime on the porch.”