By: Cindy Farmer

ASHEBORO, NC (WGHP) — It’s called Building Bridges, and it is one tough competition. One where only the strongest of structures survives.

For the competition, female middle school students construct bridges and see whose bridge can hold the most weight. It teaches the girls about STEM technology and its many uses.

According to Jerry Ivey, who works for Toyota Battery, NC “it teaches them a lot. It teaches them about engineering. It teaches math. It teaches them how to do research, how to figure out to make what shapes are the strongest and what are the weakness. And it builds a little bit of competition with them too.”

It serves as a bridge to get the girls to see themselves in a career that many of them may not have envisioned before.

“Research shows that career stereotypes start in elementary school, but especially in middle School for Girls,” says Sarah Beth Cox, the Career and Technical Education Director for Asheboro City Schools. She says, “we want them interested. We want them to go into these careers. They’re high wage earning, they’re high interest, they’re high engagement, and they’re a huge need in Randolph County and across the state.”

This is the first year for the competition in Asheboro City Middle schools. Sponsored by NC Fame a national apprenticeship-style training program, the competition teaches the girls that they CAN do STEM jobs, no matter their interest.

“Today’s generation, really. I think a lot of times they forget what jobs are out there and that stem jobs are out there and that they’re well-paying jobs and they’re available and that most students, especially at this age, are already stem driven. They like that, they enjoy it, but they kind of forget that. So this event brings them back to focus and lets them do something they enjoy and then be able to talk to employers and stuff and see that this is what we’re looking for as well,” said Ivey.

Asheboro High School graduate Josalyn Hernandez knows that well. She says NC Fame is giving her the experience she needs to succeed.

According to Hernandez, “With this program, we don’t just get a job after we graduate, we get a career. So that’s why I was also interested. We get an associates in mechatronics and we get 2000 hours of work experience, something that puts us in front of most people who graduate from like 4-year colleges.

Because they have the technical like they know what they’re doing, but they don’t have the work experience. And that’s something that we’re getting.”

For the girls who participated in the competition, it was an amazing experience.

Madison Hicks is in the eighth grade at North Asheboro Middle School.

“Not only is it a great thing to learn, but I also love how they’re bringing girls into this,” she said. “Like the different mindsets, I love how they’re bringing different brains and just trying to include many people because I think everybody has something to put into everything if that makes sense. So yeah, I just, I love that.”

Hicks’ bridge held 18 water bottles, while Rosalee Lockamy’s strategy saw her bridge hold a winning 21 water bottles.

Lockamy explained, “I thought if I could build diamonds, squares, rectangles and triangles together I I thought or I overheard someone saying that it would make it stronger. And maybe in my mind I thought maybe I could hold 10 or maybe 16 water bottles and that’s what inspired me to build it. So I just tried it out and it worked.”

All of the girls who participated came away with certificates and a greater knowledge of STEM jobs available and the pathways to them. But Hicks and Lockamy will go on to the regional competition at Guilford Technical Community College on Nov. 21.

Posted in First in Flight Chapter, North Carolina