NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Most days spent in summer camps are filled with things like swimming and crafts and singing around a campfire. But a unique summer camp just for high school girls focuses instead on careers in construction. It’s called the MAGIC camp, which stands for Mentoring a Girl in Constriction. It’s free for the girls to attend, because it’s all about encouraging girls to get more involved in construction careers.
This summer is Dakota Fall’s second year at the MAGIC camp at North Kansas City’s Builders Association She talked to us while learning how to solder and weld.
“I’m open to a lot of things and a lot of girls are but they’re afraid to get out there and do it because it’s just guys everywhere,” says Falls.
The camp has 14 girls enrolled this year and Alise Martiny hopes it continues to grow every year because there’s a push to get more women in construction right now, partially because it’s required.
“Kansas City, Missouri has goals for 2-percent female on a project, we’re meeting those goals but barely, we need to be exceeding those goals,” Martiny says.
She also wants to see more women on job sites to build on the successes for women in this career.
“It is not an easy job but it’s a great job and women can do this job if you can physically handle the heat and cold and don’t mind getting up early in the morning because we start our jobs early,” Martiny says, “it’s a great opportunity it really is.”
The camp already has a success story. Dakota Falls just graduated and this week she applied for an apprenticeship with the carpenters union.
“And not even two hours later I got some calls about some jobs opening up so I’m really excited,” Falls says.
“The skies the limit you just have to have the will and passion to do it,” adds Martiny.
The girls will end the week touring an actual construction site and learning about everything from the architecture phase through the building phase.