Yellowknife (Dec 08/06) - On Wednesday, 135 Grade 8 girls invaded the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre. Throwing on steel-toed boots, coveralls and welder's masks, the girls were introduced to careers in the skilled trades.

"It was out of the ordinary," said Laura McBride, 13, from Ecole St. Joseph. "Normally they just tell you about being an athlete or a teacher. Here we got to see what else there is."

Madison Phillips, 13, from William McDonald School, gets an introduction to trades from mentor Connie Taylor at the sixth Annual Young Women's Conference. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

The conference was the sixth annual event put on by Skills Canada NWT, an organization which promotes skilled trades and technical careers among youth. With just three per cent of women in the trades, organizers are hoping this will encourage more women to consider these fields as an option.

"They get all this hands-on experience, and you see their whole worlds open up," said Carm Allen, a teacher at William McDonald school. Allen encouraged her students to sign up to expose themselves to these careers.

Part of the conference included pairing up the girls with mentors to talk to them about their careers.

"When you're looking at an occupation, if you don't see someone like you in that occupation, then it doesn't seem like something open to you. It's about knowing that people like you can succeed in that career," said Skills Canada NWT Executive Director Jan Fullerton,

The highlight of the conference for Billy Joe Morales, 13, from William McDonald, was a visit to the legislative assembly where she met MLA Sandy Lee. Lee had an impact on Morales by pointing out that there were only two women MLAs.

"She spoke of the minority of women and of different races," said Morales. "That's really true, there really aren't a lot of women [in politics]."

Other activities the girls took part in included carpentry, robotics, welding, aircraft maintenance, and geology.