Chautauqua Lake and Brocton students are pictured at Chautauqua Lake Central School recently for a joint project hosted by Dream It, Do It WNY.

MAYVILLE – Girls from Chautauqua Lake and Brocton Central Schools came together recently for a day of projects and career exploration through a Girls in Manufacturing event sponsored by Dream it Do it Western New York.

During the event the girls engaged in welding, CNC machining and assembly of rocket stoves. With the assistance of CLCS technology students, representatives of manufacturing and teachers, a team of girls learned about manufacturing careers, the manufacturing process and took home their very own rocket stove.

Dream It Do It Western New York, an initiative of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier, creates events like Girls in Manufacturing Day as an outreach and preparation program to build the talent pipeline in support of the manufacturing economy.

“We see an enormous opportunity to introduce more girls to manufacturing careers by empowering them and helping them build confidence that these traditionally male dominated careers are a viable option for women,” said Todd Tranum, president of Dream It Do It Western New York and executive director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier. “Manufacturers continue to struggle to fill jobs at a time when the sector is growing and creating jobs and a wave of retirements continue to leave positions vacant. Our strategy through Dream It Do It, is focused on building an early talent pipeline by engaging with students through manufacturing technology tours, hands-on project-based experiences, and building meaningful long- lasting connections with the manufacturers in our region.”

During the event, middle school girls from Brocton and Chautauqua Lake learned all stages of the manufacturing process and had an opportunity to use machines such as mills, lathes, CNC lathes and mills, as well as welding and fabrication equipment to create projects.

“Programming like Girls in Manufacturing is engaging with young ladies, inspiring them through fun hands-on project-based learning and connecting this experience with careers in manufacturing,” said Heather Turner, president of Blackstone Advanced Technologies. “The Dream It Do It initiative is an important part of our strategy to connect with students in middle school and high school to help them learn more about what we do at Blackstone Advanced Technologies and the career opportunities we offer. Through Dream It Do It we have had students from a variety of schools tour our facility, we met with nearly 1,000 students at the recent STEM Wars event, and I had the opportunity to speak to the participants in the Girls in Manufacturing camp held at Chautauqua Lake Central School. All of these interactions are part of our effort at Blackstone, to build the early talent pipeline which we view as essential to the future growth of our business.”

With the assistance of Chautauqua Lake technology students, representatives of manufacturing, and teachers, a team of girls learned about manufacturing careers, the manufacturing process and took home their very own rocket stove and wood epoxy creativity coaster. Chautauqua Lake’s technology teachers took a leadership role in bringing this event and projects together.

“As an educator, it is always exciting to see someone learn a new skill set, but to watch them use that skill to create something that is meaningful and personal to them is what it is all about,” said teacher Bill Persons. “Through Dream It Do it and programs like Girls in Manufacturing, we hope to help facilitate events like this in the years to come to show our younger learners the endless potential in the field of manufacturing.”

Chautauqua Lake principal Rachel Curtin was also excited to see the confidence in the participants grow as they worked on their projects.

“With any creative project, those first few trial and error steps can be hard to get through. It takes courage to get going, and then confidence and focus to bring the creation to completion,” Curtin said. “Some of those welds on the rocket stoves were truly exceptional and were representative of the unknown potential of our students. This event is so wonderful because as the day went on, we saw both creativity and confidence shine through in the girls as they developed an eye for detail and craftsmanship in what they were working on.”

To learn more about Dream It Do it Western New York and to sign up for the Dream It Do It Advanced Manufacturing Program, visit didiwny.com.