ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Edison Career and Technology High School students had their first Women and Wrenches Day on Thursday. The goal of the event was to expose female students to the manufacturing industry — one traditionally dominated by men.

What You Need To Know

  • Edison Tech's mission is to bring education to life with a hands-on approach

  • Female students learned how to change the oil in a car, weld, and engineer

  • Students worked with women in automotive, technology, machining, engineering and welding

Spectrum News 1 spoke with a former Edison student whose major was welding 20 years ago. Ebony Stubbs was the only female student in her class at the time. She got an internship with the city of Rochester and then a job in the field.

"My value in being here today is just to encourage the young women that are going to pursue this field and to make sure they have somebody to cling to and encourage them," said Stubbs.

The students got the opportunity to get their hands dirty. They learned welding, how to change the oil in a car, as well as some lessons in engineering. 

"I never knew what welding was, but when I tried it, it was fun trying to get to learn the new techniques," said student Jaelyn Jackson "The scariest part about it is, you know, the little things that fly around, but there are safety things for that, so it's pretty fun."

Although this was a one-day event, Edison Tech's mission is to always bring education to life with a hands-on approach.