(This message is in response to Laura Zeigen's letter that Ms. June Tremain
received. Ms Tremain provides insightful thoughts and resources. Ms.
Zeigen's letter is also attached to this message.)
Your comment about not putting our own perspectives onto someone else
reminded me of a lesson learned from my friends in the Oregon Tradeswomen,
Inc. The most common explanations I hear for why they entered the trades
are: (1) I like working in my trade and I'm doing what I love, and (2) I
needed a job where I could make a livable wage for myself and my family. I
don't think you can beat those reasons. We all should be so lucky as to
have a job we love.
I was glad to hear from Melissa about all the work Chicago Women in Trades
(CWIT) is doing for girls. I'd like to share the following information
from Darcy Varney, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Oregon
Tradeswomen, Inc. (OT) about their programs for young women, "Trades Offer
Girls Options" (TO GO). You can go to, TO GO link on http://
www.tradeswomen.net to learn more.
* Workshops for Girls: Available now! Our tradeswomen volunteers bring
their expertise to your school for fun, hands-on
experiences. Choose from the following: Framing Your Future
(carpentry); Light Up Your Life (electrical); Lineworker Lingo and
Safety (utility); Bulldozers, Backhoes and Big Rigs (operating
engineer); Driven - Washington County Operations Division Women
(transportation trades). Call 503-943-2250
* Workshop for Teachers and Counselors: "Girls Who DO: Motivating
Kinesthetic Learners to Achieve Their Goals." Want to
know more about hands-on learning and trades careers? Schedule this
informative presentation for yourself and your colleagues
for an in-service day or after school. Call 503-943-2250 for
information.
* Opportunities in the Trades Resource Lending Library: Our library
consists of more than 50 videos, books and other
materials to support your career-related learning and non-traditional
career activities. The full library catalog is listed on our web
site.
* 2002 Women in Trades Fair: The special day for middle school girls this
year is Thursday, May 16th. The special day for high
school girls this year is Friday, May 17th. Check the we site for
details, and call 503-943-2250 to request application materials
(they will be ready in January) or to order posters.
There are also field trips, speakers and after school programs and
activities described on the web site.
Darcy reminded us that, "Aristotle said, 'Nothing reaches the mind except
through the senses.' One can almost imagine how the idea dawned on the
great philosopher: while taking a break from his daily lectures, Aristotle
watches stonecutters and carpenters apply the principle of the golden
rectangle to build his Lyceum in ancient Greece."
OT has sought ways to entice teachers and counselors to learn more about
the trades, apprenticeship and non-traditional occupations. Most educators
entered their jobs through a college path and have little knowledge about
the trades. This year's TO GO advisory committee recommended Darcy might
motivate more educators to learn about trades by explaining that this is a
way to "help the kinesthetic learner to achieve" - rather than by saying
the usual thing, "come learn about the trades." We believe more counselors
and teachers will ask for these sessions. Educators are very busy people
and now they only have to refer students to OT where they can obtain valid
information about the trades and how to enter them.
Other helpful information links on the OT web page:
Teachers! Make use of these curriculum ideas and lesson plans that
demonstrate construction applications of math and science concepts.
Contact the Oregon Building Congress (OBC) at http://www.obcweb.com.
Oregon Tradeswomen works with Saturday Academy's AWSEM (Advocates for Women
in Science, Engineering and Mathematics) clubs to give girls meaningful
experiences in the trades. Clubs may arrange apprenticeship training
center site visits and workshops. Visit AWSEM at http://www.awsem.org.
Three construction industry groups have banded together to create an
excellent Internet resource for students, teachers and parents: http://
www.ConstructMyFuture.com. The web site includes publications, facts,
teaching aids, links, and ideas for helping young people learn about
careers in the construction industry. The site is sponsored by the
Construction Industry Manufacturing Association, The AED Foundation, and
Associated General Contractors.
Darcy just celebrated her first year with OT and is to be congratulated on
all she has accomplished to reach more young women and teach them that
"Trades Offer Girls Options."
Take care - June
June Tremain, Ed. D.
Career Development and Human Res. Specialist
Oregon Department of Education
Office of Professional Technical Education
Public Service Building
255 Capitol ST. NE
Salem, OR. 97310-0203
Phone (503) 378-3600 x2238 Fax (503) 378-5156
-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Zeigen [mailto:zeigenl@ohsu.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 6:00 PM
To: June.Tremain@ODE-EX1.ODE.STATE.OR.US
Subject: RE: [EDEQUITY Career Dialogue] Some thoughts and resources
Hello June,
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to me. I was aware of
the WASPs, but not of the stories of women falling out of the planes!
That's horrible! Yes, it is interesting to note that these women did
not consider themselves doing anything particularly unusual and one
must always be careful of not putting our contemporary perspective for
motivation onto another era. I am keen to see by the end of my
interviews if there appear to be any patterns, both internally and
externally based, for why women made the decisions they made to go
into something like computer science. I hope to have this help inform
what we can do today to help young women identify themselves with it
as a possible career option. We shall see!
Yes, if I obtain some viable interviewees who I think may be good for
the "Expanding Your Horizons" session I will send them your way. I
contacted Nancy Huppertz a couple of months ago regarding this and am
on her list to volunteer for this event, so I look forward to seeing
you there and hopefully beforehand as well.
Also, don't know if you have been to the San Diego Museum of Flight,
but they had an interesting exhibit related to women in the history of
flight in the U.S.
I look forward to being in contact. I will let you know when my
travels next take me through Salem.
Thanks for your good information!
Laura Zeigen, Library Web Manager
Oregon Health & Science University
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road
Portland, Oregon 97201-3098
zeigenl@ohsu.edu / 503-494-0505
http://www.ohsu.edu/library/staff/zeigenl/
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