The all-girls construction class at Abraxas Continuation High School in Poway, California, is an example of a trade course whose lessons extend well beyond typical building work. Last year, the girls cut and assembled pipe for a hydroponic filtration system. (Hydroponics refers to a method of growing plants without soil.) The students engineered the whole system using science and math skills, along with muscle. A network of pipes now carries fish excrement filtered from a pool of 300 classroom-bred tilapia to the school garden, where vegetables such as butterhead lettuce, cucumbers, and kale grow. The system is so efficient that the school says it is able to donate 300 heads of lettuce a week to families in need.
The girls’ success showed what they could do with a little elbow grease and a lot of problem solving, and it deepened their camaraderie, according to Alana Johnson, an 18-year-old who recently graduated. It helped, she says, that the students could work without the distraction of “super loud guys” who tend to get “way too rowdy.”
This is so awesome and so solarpunk!
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Girls-Only Trade Classes Are Becoming More Popular—and They’re Upending Gender Stereotypes
Celtyradfem 