Grade 5 girls in Winnipeg recently had the opportunity to try their hand at non-traditional trades including masonry and plumbing, as well as professions in science, technology, engineering and math as part of an Unlocking the Toolkit event at Bernie Wolf School.
CBC News quoted Status of Women minister Rochelle Squires as saying: “These are non-traditional career choices for women. What we want to do is encourage young girls as they’re starting to prepare their futures, as they’re picking out their courses for junior high and high school.”
Approximately 70 students from the River East Transcona School Division gathered to meet and interact with women in the plumbing, carpentry and electrical trades and learn some of the basic hands-on skills of each profession. Sessions included a crash course in how to mount and install a lightbulb.
“Forty years ago, girls were just not encouraged to be working in plumbing fields, to be electricians or carpenters. Girls were just told that they couldn’t do those jobs, and that’s not the case,” Squires is quoted as saying. “We want to tell these girls they can do any job they want.”
