Carlisle High School student Catherine Myers installs a fuel pump into a gas tank at Lebo’s Garage Friday morning.
Carlisle High School student Haley Wiegner earned a Trailblazer Award from the Carlisle AAUW for her interest in automotive technology.
Carlisle High School student Catherine Myers earned a Trailblazer Award from the Carlisle AAUW for her interest in automotive technology.
Carlisle High School student Haley Wiegner learns about automotive repair and works at a local garage.
From an early age, Haley Wiegner enjoyed time spent with her dad fixing vehicles.
Every repair was a different challenge in hands-on problem solving.
“I just started getting into it more and more,” the Carlisle student recalled. “It doesn’t matter that it’s considered a guy career. We can do it just the same, if not better, than some of the guys.”
A senior, Wiegner is finishing up the three-year program in automotive technology at Carlisle High School. She plans to work as a mechanic while taking online business courses in pursuit of the dream of opening her own garage.
Like her classmate, Catherine Myers has the drive to succeed in a field dominated by men.
“Being the only girl in the shop, you got to prove yourself more,” she said. “Girls don’t get the recognition working on mechanical things. We really don’t get the credit.”
With graduation only weeks away, Myers wants to use her training as a mechanic to finance a future in health care that starts this August with enrollment in the HACC nursing program.
Ultimately, the North Middleton Township teen wants to pursue a master’s degree that would qualify her to work as a nurse practitioner in a neo-natal intensive care unit.
Both students have been recognized as Trailblazers by the Carlisle chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Gail D’Urso chairs the committee that organized the March 29 event to honor Myers and Wiegner.
Chapter members started the Trailblazer program about three years ago to recognize female Carlisle High School students who have chosen non-traditional careers in technical fields.
“For lots of kids, there’s so much pressure to go into college right out of high school,” D’Urso said. “For some of them, particularly young women, there’s a lot of college debt that goes along with that education. Both our honorees intend to pursue some higher education that they are going to be able to finance in part by skills that they learned in the automotive technology program.”
To identify eligible students, chapter members work closely with teachers and with Albert Parrillo, director of the Center for Careers and Technology at the high school. While Parrillo provides logistical support and technical assistance, teachers nominate the students based on good citizenship, academic competency and enthusiasm for their chosen field of study.
David Appleman is the automotive technology teacher at the high school. “Both young ladies have shown to me the strong will and aptitude that is needed to succeed,” Appleman said of Myers and Wiegner.
Once nominated, each student must complete and submit a questionnaire to AAUW chapter members, D’Urso said. “Once they have met our criteria, they are designated Trailblazers.”
Both seniors are grateful for the honor.
“It gives girls the OK to be in something that’s a man’s field,” Myers said.
“It’s awesome because it’s giving recognition that you can do it,” Wiegner added. Both women already have jobs in local garages.
“They are go-getters, very responsible and good with organizing,” Parrillo said of the 2021 honorees. “They have been top-notch students, both employable in the automotive field.”
Carlisle High School offers students a three-year, state-approved program that includes industry certification in vehicle inspection and emissions. Depending on their skill level and work setting, graduates end up in entry-level positions as either technicians or parts specialists.
Though female mechanics are rare, their numbers are gradually increasing, especially in urban centers, Parrillo said. He added Carlisle has seen more female students enter into other fields traditionally dominated by men including carpentry and engineering.
“We’re trying to change the message,” Parrillo said. “It’s all about awareness.”
As an educator, he wants students to know that they don’t always need a four-year college degree to be successful and prosperous in life. Instead, they can enter a technical field that provides a competitive, family-sustaining wage that would allow them to save up for post-secondary training.
As part of a recruitment strategy, the Center for Careers and Technology sends high school girls to elementary schools to show younger girls that, if they apply themselves, they can succeed in non-traditional career fields.
Email Joseph Cress at jcress@cumberlink.com.
April 26, 2021 at 06:00AM
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AAUW Carlisle honors students as trailblazers in automotive field - Carlisle Sentinel
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