Rosie's Girls empowers girls with STEM-related skills

For Sandra Ramirez Pvac, a freshman at DePaul Cristo Rey High School, the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati’s program Rosie’s Girls provided her not only with a fun and engaging summer experience, but also a sense of empowerment.
 
“We made lamps, cut the pieces, sanded it and painted it,” Ramirez Pvac says. “Then we also got it to work through the electricity that we did. We also made our own toolbox—it was just cool.”
 
Rosie’s Girls is a program for girls between the ages of 11 and 13 that introduces STEM-related careers through hands-on training in carpentry and other technical trades.
 
“The part that excited me was going through carpentry, because usually when I hear about Messer and Turner Construction sites, usually men do it,” Ramirez Pvac says. “You see guys outside putting concrete on the streets, so I thought it would be interesting to go and experience that and see how it is.”
 
Ramirez Pvac actually graduated from the program in 2012, but this past summer, she returned as a counselor in training.
 
“I was excited because my younger sister was going this year, and she also was excited because she saw the stuff I had brought home,” Ramirez Pvac says.
 
Since her time in the program, Ramirez Pvac has been able to put her skills to use. When her bed broke, she fixed it. And when she was on a mission trip working in the garden of an older couple, she noticed a broken bench that was going to be thrown away.
 
“It was a pretty bench,” Ramirez Pvac says. “And they said they just hadn’t found someone who could fix it, so I got the opportunity to get the tools and fix it.”
 
Rosie’s Girls fostered a sense of independence in Ramirez Pvac, and it’s one she says she noticed with the other girls who participated in the program this past July.
 
“They were able to do the stuff themselves. They were able to have confidence by being able to do stuff that you wouldn’t see a young girl doing at this age,” Ramirez Pvac says. “And I feel like some girls actually felt like they wanted to take a career that has to do with that, with carpentry.”

Do Good:

•    Learn about Rosie's Girls, and encourage young girls to apply for next year's program. 

•    Support the YWCA by donating.

•    Connect with Rosie's Girls on Facebook.