Construction camp teaches young girls skills like welding and carpentry

Monday, July 15, 2019

News 12 This Morning

BURKE COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -- Young ladies from the CSRA are getting their hands dirty and breaking barriers. They're learning about construction through a camp called MAGIC.

It's a camp that mentors young girls and shows them they can get into what's typically a male-dominated field.

If there's one thing ladies here know how to do it's taking on some hardcore manuel labor, maybe even better than the boys.

"I feel like people don't think that females can do what they think is a male job," said Nia Nicholson, Camper at Camp MAGIC.

Nia Nicholson is on track to break that standard.

"I want to be a welder, so I hope I can be good enough to actually get into Plant Vogtle," said Nicholson.

She's in good company too. Employees from Georgia Power are teaching these girls how to do things like welding," said Nicholson.

Right now, only 9% of women make up jobs in the construction field, so what the ladies are doing at MAGIC Camp is learning how to operate big equipment like this backhoe.

"The young females are an avenue that was never tapped into. Nobody told them about construction.," explained Renee Conner, National Executive Director of MAGIC Camp, "You know, it was all college, college, college."

Conner wants to change that idea. This is the 10th year the week long camp has come to Burke County.

"We need more diversity going into the field, and we need to let these girls know they can make a great career out of it," said Conner.

By the end of it, the girls here are OSHA Certified, but what's maybe even more valuable is the girls here are a lot more confident.

"They come with excitement and leave by Friday knowing they can do anything," said Conner.

The campers also learned about carpentary and electrical work.