Profiles
Mia Meers – Gung Ho for Girls Programs!
Mia Mears is no stranger to Vermont Works for Women. This sixteen year old high school sophomore is a veteran on the Rosie’s Girls Barre staff team, returning for the summer of 2010 as a Second-Year Counselor in Training. She also attended the 2009 Women Can Do Conference for high school girls at Vermont Technical College last October. AND she participated in the 2009 Career Challenge Day at Randolph Technical Career Center last November. Mia is the FIRST person to participate in all three of these programs, and we are thrilled every time we see her name on the registration list!
Mia’s love for the trades is evident. She excels in the carpentry shop and loves to challenge herself – this summer Mia completed a complex building project of a large chest at Rosie’s Girls. Mia feels equally at home under the hood of a car or wielding a plasma cutter, and she is thinking of enrolling in the Automotive Program at Randolph Technical Career Center next year. Each of our programs benefits from Mia’s enthusiasm and energy and we are delighted to see her pursue her passion in the trades! We hope to see Mia at Rosie’s Girls 2011! Thanks, Mia, for being a role model to us all, young and old!
Heather – FRESH Energy Crew
One of our FRESH Energy crew members, Heather, was working part-time at a bagel store when she applied for a position with FRESH Energy in January 2010.
Although she had graduated with High Honors from a high school Cosmetology program at the local Technical Education Center in 2005, the jobs she had found since then were in housekeeping, food service, and working at the post office processing center during the holiday rush. Her average rate of pay was under $10/hour.
Heather had plenty of informal experience doing standard farm and “country “chores – throwing bales, clearing brush, cutting firewood, etc. When she started to help an acquaintance on a tree work project – working with chainsaws in the trees – she realized she was skilled, tough, and a quick study in the hands-on learning required of the task.
A friend of hers applying for Vermont Works for Women’s (VWW) Law Enforcement training program learned about the FRESH Energy crew and suggested Heather apply. She called to investigate and soon submitted an application for the crew.
She wrote in her cover letter:
One thing my resume doesn’t show is the work I have done with family and friends – handling hay bales, fire wood, home clean outs, clearing brush, chain saw and tree work. I think these demonstrate that I am a hard-working woman who is not afraid to try new things and be hands-on in my work. I am excited at the idea of having the opportunity to get valuable training within a career field that I will enjoy and take pride in doing.
Heather was hired on to the crew and started to wear a tool belt to work for the first time in her life. During her first 2 months on the job, she has received on-the-job training in residential weatherization in apartment style housing units as well as mobile homes. She received EPA Lead Renovator Training and Certification, training in dense-pack cellulose installation, and a thorough introduction to blower door testing. In her third month on the job, she received introductory building science training, completed national certifications in both construction safety and hand tool use, and continued on-the-job training in residential weatherization.
Recently asked to reflect on time with the FRESH Energy crew, she had this to say…
It was great for me. I loved doing the manual work rather than being in an office. I loved the training and the work experience. We talked about everything, learned as we went, and then did it. I benefited from this a lot more than if I was just thrown into a job. I also learned that doing this kind of work is saving more than you might think. I used to think about energy efficiency as saving money on your bills, but I realize you’re saving a lot more than that now. It helps to save the environment.
In the fall of 2010, Heather applied to and was hired by the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity for a full-time position as a weatherization technician with a salary and full benefits. We are delighted that FRESH Energy provided Heather with the job training she need to launch a career in the weatherization field.
