News Article

The smell of fresh sawdust is the first sign there’s something going on at the College of the North Atlantic in St. Anthony.
 
Walking down the hallway towards the workshop, the sounds of jigsaws and drills is the next clue.
 
While all that would be fairly reasonable in the CNA workshop during semester, anyone who doesn’t know what’s on the go might stumble a little in their step when they hear the giggles.
 
Ten girls, aged between 10 and 12 and armed with power tools and white hard hats, are inside the workshop, so thoroughly engrossed in their projects they don’t even seem to notice they are missing the sunshine streaming through the open door.
 
And what is the source of all this noise, sawdust and concentration? Go karts.
 
Not just any go karts, mind, but vehicles from their own designs.
 
For this group that means pandas, the word love’, flowers and peace symbols, as well as an amusingly shaped ketchup bottle made by Hynes sisters Emily and Annalee in a play on their last name.
 
“Ours is gonna win,” grins Annalee, hinting at the somewhat competitive nature of this go kart building project.
 
“You have to come back Friday and watch when Hynes 57 sauce wins,” adds her sister, the last word accompanied by a small fist flung into the air in the international sign for victory.
 
The program will culminate with that race in the car park and a feast of hotdogs, but for the time being the girls saw sheets of plywood and lumber, and paint their handmade creations.
 
“I’ve made over 120 go karts and no two have ever been the same,” says Mary Clarke.
 
She pauses, then calls out to 10-year-old Madelyn Smith, who’s battling with a saw.
 
“Keep it on the same angle,” she advises. Madelyn corrects her grip and the blade cuts smoothly again.
 
“That’s right, good work.”
 
Ms. Clarke travels the province each summer to instruct the courses which show girls how to use power tools and get them familiar with woodwork.
 
“The idea is to encourage them to look at non-traditional trades like carpentry so maybe they’ll think about getting into that kind of career, and to just build up their confidence with these kinds of tools,” she says.
 
It is part of the Girls Exploring Trades and Technology program — GETT for short.
 
So far this summer Ms. Clarke has also been to Botwood, St. Lawrence and Clarenville, and from August 29 to September 2 will be in Rocky Harbour.
 
For now the St. Anthony girls jigsaw, drill and paint their way to what will hopefully be the fastest kart on the lot.
 
So is it a fun way to spend one of the final weeks of summer vacation?
 
Tegan Mitchell looks up from the word ‘love’ she’s cutting out, a grin spreading across her face.
 
“Oh yeah.”
 
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By Emma Graney
Reprinted with permission by The Northern Pen
(Published August 29, 2011)