Twenty high school seniors spent four days this week learning to change tires, replace oil, and handle other basic vehicle maintenance tasks at an all-girls automotive summer camp hosted by Pinellas County Schools at Northeast High School.
The camp is part of a district effort to draw more female students into automotive careers, a field where women remain underrepresented, according to school officials.
“This is a male-dominated profession, and so we’re trying to attract females into this program to get them accustomed to helping to support the workforce because this is a high-demand area,” said Dywayne Hinds, Pinellas County Schools area superintendent.
Incoming senior Leona Tran said she did not consider herself “car savvy” before attending the camp. “A lot of equipment is very daunting when you look at it,” Tran said. “Once you get used to it, once you get to feel the force, but also control it, that takes a lot of the stigma away.”
Fellow senior Grace Mayorga entered the camp with more hands-on experience, having previously helped her father replace an engine. She said she believes the skills taught at the camp have broader value.
“It’s really valuable for life skills,” Mayorga said. “Let’s say you get stranded, then what, what are you going to do — at least you’ll know the basic foundation of checking.”
The girls-only automotive camp is not the district’s first effort of its kind. Pinellas County Schools has previously run similar non-traditional training programs, including a construction camp for girls and efforts encouraging boys to pursue nursing. Officials said the programs are driven in part by state requirements for career and technical education programs, which push districts to recruit students into high-demand fields that have traditionally been dominated by one gender.
Pinellas County Schools will hold its standard, co-ed automotive maintenance camp next week. Northeast High School also offers a four-year Automotive Academy program, part of its Automotive Service Technology curriculum, during the regular school year.
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