Totally Trades! Conferences are an opportunity for 8th grade and high school girls to explore high demand, high wage careers in trades and technology and to connect them to education opportunities through Maine’s Career and Technology Education (CTE) programs, Community College (MCCS), and University of Maine System (UMS) campuses throughout the state. This spring, because of space restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hands-on conferences will again be offered virtually statewide.
Eight free interactive sessions will be presented during the last week of April and first week of May. Session topics include careers in Building and Design, Renewable Energy, Automotive, Fire and Rescue, Criminal Justice, Computer Technology, Communications and Connectivity, and Earn and Learn opportunities.
As a student who participated in the fall virtual sessions asserted: “It was just an amazing experience…because it was women, and they were so inspiring.” She noted that a tradeswoman in her session said: “It will be hard not because we are women, it’s just a hard job.”
Every Maine high school student has access to CTE programs where they can learn valuable skills that prepare them for Maine’s workforce. Totally Trades! provides an opportunity for self-identifying girls and gender expansive youth to explore careers without gender bias, connects them with tradeswomen and female CTE, MCCS, and UMS students and faculty learning and working in trade and technology fields, and links them to valuable education and training options.
Totally Trades! is organized by New Ventures Maine in collaboration with many partners; the sessions are supported by the Maine Department of Transportation and Maine Department of Education, Career and Technical Education as well as many business sponsors throughout the state. For more information about the spring 2021 workshops, contact Suzanne Senechal-Jandreau at 207 768-9635 or senechal@maine.edu. Further information is available at totallytradesmaine.org.