Attention to detail, fine motor skills give girls edge at Choffin

By denise dick | denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Auto collision repair, welding and precision machining: They’re not just for male students at Choffin

Career and Technical Center anymore.

“I have four [juniors who are girls] in my program, and they are buzz saws out there,” said Bob Morrell, Choffin’s instructor in precision machining.

Welding instructor Patrick Prokop said girls have better fine-motor skills, which give them an advantage in the craft.

Gregory Henderson, instructor in auto collision repair, said girls’ attention to detail make them ideal for the field.

Erica Roman, Alize Allen and Caitlin Braun, all 16, and Sydney Leonhiser, 17, are juniors in the program and still in the early stages of learning the skill.

Sahara Buggs Crum is a senior.

“She is my top student,” Morrell said of the senior. “She’s going to compete in Skills USA.”

It’s a contest where career and technical center students compete, demonstrating their skills.

Erica said the program appealed to her because she likes working with her hands.

The idea of being a gender minority in the class doesn’t bother her.

“I want to become a machinist,” she said.

Erica said she’s having fun in the program and learning the new skills.

Sydney thought the field sounded interesting when she first learned about it.

“It seemed like something you don’t get to do every day,” she said.

The fact that there aren’t a lot of girls in the class just encourages her.

“It makes me want to do better,” she said.

Alize said she’s always been a tomboy.

“Since I was little, I’ve always liked to work with my dad and to learn to make things,” she said.

Like the other girls in her class, she’s not bothered that they’re outnumbered.

She got interested in precision machining during a Buddy Day at Choffin last year when 10th-graders visited to learn about the center and its programs.

“We made a pencil case and [the instructor] said I had potential,” Alize said. “Everyone else’s had something wrong with it, but mine was perfect.”

She wants to pursue precision machining as her career.

“But I want to go to college so I can be the boss of everyone,” Alize said.

Caitlin likes math and science and figuring out calculations, so the program seemed like a natural fit.

“I like to do different things,” she said.

As far as being one of the few females in the class, that didn’t trouble her.

“I knew I’d be better anyway,” Caitlin said.

Allina Rivera, 16, is the only junior girl in Prokop’s welding class.

“She does great,” Prokop said. “We just had a cutting competition and she beat all the boys.”

Prokop said there’s a push to get more women into the field.

Allina had planned to be an orthodontist but thought she’d try the welding class to see what it’s like. She doesn’t want to be an orthodontist anymore and plans to pursue welding.

“I like everything about it,” she said.

The craft allows her to use her artistic talents, Allina said.

Most of her friends are guys, so being the only girl in the class isn’t an issue.

Welding is difficult but fun, she said.

What makes it difficult is “making the weld exactly right,” she said.

Juniors Shirley Simpson and Neisha Martinez, both 17, and Harley Chapman, 18, each pursued auto collision repair as a way to carry on a family tradition.

Neisha was a bit intimidated when she learned the program was male-dominated, but then she found out two other girls were taking the class.

“I thought, ‘I’ll have two new friends,’” she said.

Neisha likes the program because she’s learning a lot about cars.

“If my car stops in the road, I’ll be able to figure out why,” she said.

Neither Shirley nor Harley was troubled by being outnumbered in the class.

“I want to become a master before the boys do,” Shirley said.

Henderson said women tend to pay more attention to detail, giving them an edge. A small ding in a car door, for example, or paint pooled in a crease might seem insignificant or go unnoticed by some. But depending on the client, those could cause problems if overlooked, he said.

“It’s a very detail-driven business,” Henderson said.