Rockdale Citizen

In the Girls in Engineering camp at the Rockdale Career Academy this week, Alana Carson, Jocelyn Tate and Kiyara Best work to make a cover to carry their egg to safety once it is dropped.

CONYERS -- About 30 Rockdale County students learned about nontraditional career paths this week in a free camp.

Rising seventh- and eighth-grade girls learned about manufacturing and engineering, while the boys learned about careers in education as part of the nontraditional occupations camps at the Rockdale Career Academy that are offered through the Career, Technical and Agricultural Education program at Rockdale County Public Schools.

They are gender-specific to offer the opportunity to investigate the roles, responsibilities and opportunities in particular professions and/or occupations for the non-traditional gender.

Nine girls enrolled in the class Girls Exploring Manufacturing Systems, or GEMS, and 13 girls enrolled in the Girls in Engineering class this week.

"I like it. It's fun," said Alanna Stinson, a seventh-grader at Conyers Middle School, about the engineering class. "It teaches you about what you can be when you grow up."

The engineering course had students explore different careers within the engineering profession, and they also participated in such activities like building a bridge out of pasta to see how sturdy it was and figuring out how to drop eggs without them breaking.

Students in the GEMS class made clocks, plaques, a tic-tac-toe game and Father's Day gifts using 3-D modeling software, a laser engraver and power tools.

"It's just good to know," said eighth-grader Logan Weaver from Davis Middle School, who wants to one day be an entrepreneur. "I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about manufacturing."

Additionally, nine boys are enrolled in the class Man Up! Men in Education this week.

Next week, more than 40 students are expected to participate in the nontraditional camp. Girls will study architecture in Architectural Design for Girls; construction in DYNAMIC Girls (Design Your Next Academic Move into Construction); and engineering in Girls in Engineering; while boys will study the medical field in Scrubs, Scalpels and Sports Medicine.

One or more camps like these traditionally are held at RCA during extended intersession breaks. They are offered for free to students using special CTAE funds.