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My name is not Elaine
Okanagan College is using a novel approach to get girls interested in trades training.
OC's go-kart camp for girls fired up its engines again this year during the college’s popular summer camps.
Girls Can Go-Kart Too! is a camp that not only offers girls in Grades 4-6 a chance to sit in the driver’s seat, but also gives them hands-on training that could steer them towards a career in trades.
The camp was created in 2018 by the college and the Industry Training Authority, which provided funding last year and this year to help bring the project to life.
“This camp is a great opportunity for young women to learn and directly apply useful skills in a fun environment,” says Shelley Gray, CEO of ITA. “It’s a hugely enjoyable program for the young women, who we hope will become the skilled trades people of the future.”
Fourteen girls stepped into the automotive shop at the Kelowna campus, tackling everything from designing their go-karts to working on small engines, changing the oil, patching and replacing tires, testing and fixing brakes and installing ignition kill switches – all under the watchful eye of OC Red Seal-endorsed trades instructors.
“Last year, I saw the girls racing the go-karts in the parking lot and it looked like a lot of fun, so I decided to try it this year,” says Skyla Golbey, a Grade 6 student. “I haven’t built one before, but my uncle builds cars so I’ve been around them a lot. We’ve been learning about all the tools and how an engine works.”
Golbey agreed that knowing how to change a tire will be useful and that the highlight of the week will be “racing the karts, making sure they actually work, and getting dirty.”
The camp wrapped with the girls taking part in a friendly race around a race track that they built, followed by a barbecue with their parents, instructors and officials from the college.
CampOC is in its 15th year in Kelowna and offers a variety of camps each summer for students in Grades 2-12.
