A national program designed to introduce middle school girls to non-traditional vocational careers produced two sets of winners during a culmination ceremony at the Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 Technology Center last week -- the 12 participants and one area civic organization.

Two children’s playhouses, complete with electrical wiring, were constructed by Rosie’s Girls over a period of seven days and donated to Edisto Habitat for Humanity.

Now in its fourth year in OCSD 5, Rosie’s Girls is sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Education and the Technology Center. Middle school age girls can apply for the program, which can accommodate up to 20 students each year.

Pamela Laursen, Career to Schools coordinator at the Technology Center who supervises the Rosie’s Girls program, says no girl has ever been turned down for participation. Laursen noted that this year’s program covered the shortest time period yet.

“Rosie’s Girls is a national program out of Vermont that is sponsored for two weeks each year,” she said. “This year the camp was shorter than normal because school ended on a Monday and the district was closed on a Friday. It says volumes about what these girls have accomplished in perhaps the most ambitious project to date.”

In past years, the OCSD 5 Rosie’s Girls participants have made their own working lamps out of wood, created flowered and palmetto tree centerpieces out of welded metal and learned how to change and rotate tires and change oil in a car.

“We have had a lot of support for Rosie’s Girls from our local business community, too,” Laursen said. “Papa John’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Bojangles, McDonalds and Popeyes have all donated the lunches for the girls. Lowe’s and Black & Decker have also been donors of building materials and tool boxes.”

In accepting the donation of the two playhouses, Edisto Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Jamie Bozardt told the participants that the vocational skills they learned participating in Rosie’s Girls gave them real-world experience, reality and hard work in a fun atmosphere.

“We will donate the playhouses to the next two families on our waiting list that have small children,” Bozardt said. “So when they move into their new Habitat house, they’ll also receive a playhouse for their children on that same day. I think it’s a wonderful concept for Rosie’s Girls to work on a house, for a house. I would love for this to be the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between Rosie’s Girls and Habitat, so we’ll see what the future brings.”

Tracey Scoville, a carpentry instructor, and Rodney Barr, a welding and electricity instructor, who worked with this year’s Rosie’s Girls, have been with the program since the beginning.

Abbiegail Hugine, director of the OCSD 5 Technology Center, said Rosie’s Girls is a great introduction for younger girls into the world of work that opens their eyes to far more occupational possibilities.

“It means an opportunity for children in our community to see what we offer here at the Technology Center, and it’s also a way to introduce young girls to fields not necessarily opened to females,” Hugine said. “The girls who have come through this program have been wonderful ambassadors for us and have really talked it up among their friends and acquaintances. At lot of them do come back; in several years, we see them in a number of our programs here at the Technology Center.”

The participants in the 2008 Rosie’s Girls are: Mikaela Backmon, DeAhjane’ Brown, Caitlyn Cleckley, Monesha Gladden, Kiara Hemby, Casey Jenkins, Demi Lee, Kennae’ Payne, Anika Rogers, Allayah Scott, Alanna Smalls and Michelle Snell.

T&D Correspondent Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at pmhsarata@aol.com.

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