{"id":324833,"date":"2026-06-30T16:44:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/324833\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T16:44:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:44:19","slug":"pinellas-county-schools-launches-girls-only-auto-maintenance-summer-camp-at-northeast-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/324833\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinellas County Schools launches girls-only auto maintenance summer camp at Northeast High"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Girls-only \"Girls-only Girls-only auto camp in St. Pete <\/a> <\/p>\n

More girls are getting a chance to learn the basics of car care. On Tuesday morning, students at a summer camp in St. Petersburg are getting hands-on experience with everything from oil changes to tire rotations. FOX 13’s Heather Healy reports.<\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – There is something very special happening at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg<\/a> this week. In an effort to help young women break into a historically male-dominated field, Pinellas County<\/a> Schools is hosting its first-ever girls-only Basic Auto Maintenance Summer Camp.<\/p>\n

Running through Thursday, July 2, this unique four-day camp is giving students hands-on experience, real-world skills and a major boost in confidence.<\/p>\n

Northeast High auto maintenance camp <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Inside the Northeast High School automotive shop, instructor Frederick Lawrence is teaching the campers foundational vehicle maintenance. By the time the four days are up, the students will have a strong grasp of automotive basics.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Key skills the campers are learning include:<\/p>\n

Performing oil changesChecking and maintaining crucial fluid levelsInspecting tires for safetyReplacing batteries and windshield wipers <\/p>\n

“Even if they don’t go into the industry, they’ll be able to take care of their own car and know what to check and what fluids are important,” Lawrence said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mechanical independence and empowerment <\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

Beyond the mechanics, the camp serves a vital protective purpose: ensuring these young women aren’t taken advantage of when visiting repair shops.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes [young girls] are taken advantage of when they actually take their cars to a shop,” Lawrence said. “What I want to do is give them some knowledge so when they go out and get their cars worked on, they’re able to know whether or not they’re being taken advantage of.”<\/p>\n

For camper Grace, who was seen expertly checking tires, the camp is about empowerment both on and off the road.<\/p>\n

“I honestly just want more females to enter into male-dominated industries because it’s not seen often,” Grace said. “Learning new skills is something that you will have forever.\u00a0 Also, let’s say that I get stuck on the road and I don’t have anybody with me. I’ll at least know what to check.”<\/p>\n

Bridging the industry gender gap <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

The camp highlights a stark reality in the automotive and transportation sectors, where women remain severely underrepresented.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 12.1% of the automotive repair and maintenance workforce, while less than 2% of dealership service technicians are women.<\/p>\n

By introducing young women to these fields early, the camp highlights the opportunities available through Northeast High School\u2019s Automotive Academy\u00a0and Automotive Service Technology\u00a0program.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story was gathered from interviews with Northeast High School automotive instructor Frederick Lawrence and the school’s Basic Auto Maintenance Summer Camp participants, as well as workforce demographic data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n

St. Petersburg<\/a>Education<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Girls-only auto camp in St. Pete More girls are getting a chance to learn the basics of car…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[113,47,115,1157,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-324833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-education","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}