Empowering girls: St. George construction camp aims to build future industry professionals

Written by Bridger Palmer
July 10, 2024

ST. GEORGE — While their peers enjoyed the beginning of summer break, 16 girls learned hands-on construction skills through the “Build the World, Girls! Construction Camp,” held at Career Tech High School.

Two students stop to think while building their Bluetooth speakers, St. George, Utah, June 27, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News

Kathy Tolleson, District Manager for the Associated General Contractors of Utah, told St. George News there is a growing need for women in industries such as construction, architecture and interior design.

“My generation in the construction industry as a whole are aging out,” Tolleson said. “We don’t have as many young people to fill the spots of those who are retiring at every level.”

Tolleson held a similar event at Weber State University last year. After enjoying success in northern Utah, she said, her next stop was St. George. She hopes to inspire and empower young women to work with hands-on building projects and seek opportunities to learn how to use various tools and machines. Seeing and interacting with women currently in the construction industry is a positive, too, she said.

The camp offered a range of hands-on projects that participants said they were engaged in and various activities across different fields.

In the architecture section, they designed a sunshade, while engineering tasks included building a water tower, among many other fields being represented.

Many participants were drawn to the camp by friends or personal interests. Sayde Madrigal, for example, joined because a friend recommended the program, and she said she has always been interested in construction. Her partner for the weekend was Nia Cripps, whose mother floated the idea of attending the camp, an opportunity she said she jumped on.

Most of the girls had limited prior experience with construction-related activities, so they were trained to follow all safety precautions before doing any work. Abi Davis and MaKenna Clark had only helped with home projects before – this was their first time being at the helm, they said.

Despite this, the girls said the camp provided an enjoyable and educational experience.

“I came here to figure out if I want to go into architecture or interior design,” Charlotte Wasson said. “This is helping me decide.”

Career aspirations among the participants varied, but many were considering futures in construction, architecture or related fields.

Kendra Raiger and Jaylee Murphey were interested in careers as heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians, car mechanics or general contracting. Murphey said she prioritizes this kind of work over another potential job of working on nails.

A pair of students measure twice, cut once while assembling their bread basket, St. George, Utah, June 27, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News

Instead of the entire program taking place at Career Tech High, the final day consisted of a job site tour led by Hughes General Contractors at Fiesta Fun in St. George.

“I always wanted to go into general contracting. My uncle and my grandpa both do that,” Jaylee said.

Mark Lundi, a plumbing instructor at Dixie Technical College and one of the camp instructors, said every girl in attendance was locked in.

“It’s been awesome working with these girls,” Lundi said. “They’re engaged; they’re interested.”

Lundi, who has been teaching night cohorts for the last four years, added that he read a 2023 study that estimated a shortage of half a million tradespeople nationally.

Tolleson stressed that these openings are high-skill, high-pay.

“Construction drives our economy, and it’s very rewarding,” Tolleson said. “These young ladies could be the next generation of tradespeople.”

Organizers hope to see the St. George section of the program become a yearly event.

“We want to let the girls know that they can do what boys can do,” Tolleson said. “They are just as qualified, just as skilled, just as talented.”

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bridger Palmer was born in St. George, Utah, before being raised in the Inland Empire in Southern California. He was inspired to pursue journalism because he was an avid reader of Bill Simmons’ sports and popular culture blog, Grantland. Palmer wrote a screenplay in 2020 and launched his own website, newgrantland.com, shortly thereafter. He worked his way from proofreader to editorial assistant at a weekly newspaper in Redlands, California. He returned to Southern Utah in late 2023.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!