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The belts and hats worn by participants at a Northwest Side summer camp last week weren't the kinds of accessories you buy at a mall.

The 36 girls participating in Mentoring a Girl in Construction Camp at Marana High School wore pink hard hats and tool belts fitted with pink tools.

At the weeklong camp, the girls made their own wooden toolboxes, wired lamps, and welded two horseshoes together to produce business-card holders.

In addition to acquiring carpentry, welding and electrical skills, the participants learned about safety and were introduced to careers and opportunities available in construction.

"It's not just being outside all day and getting dirty," participant Kayla Stambaugh said. "I didn't realize there's office work to be done."

Stambaugh, 18, is a recent graduate of Marana High School and was one of three recent high school grads to attend the camp. Participants ranged in age from 11 to 18.

The free camp was offered for the first time by the Tucson chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.

The Tucson chapter has 43 members representing a variety of occupations, including administrative support, material suppliers and general contractors.

Opportunities for women

Across the country, more than 1 million women work in various sectors of the construction industry, according to the National Association of Women in Construction.

Norma Nuñez owns Norma's Crane Service on the Northwest Side and is a member of the national association.

She brought one of her cranes to the camp to show the girls that jobs in construction are not always as hard as they look.

"They can operate heavy equipment," she said. "It's not really labor intensive."

Nuñez, 45, didn't go into business for herself until about 4 1/2 years ago. She's operated a crane for 11 years.

She was excited to see girls introduced to construction at such a young age.

"When I was in high school we had home economics, and all we did was bake cakes," she said. "Anyone can bake a cake, but you have to let them know they can operate heavy machinery, too."

The girls at camp weren't permitted to operate a 14-ton crane like Nuñez does, but they did put their tools to use.

Their tool belts came with a hammer, level, tape measure, screwdriver, pliers and pair of gloves.

"I haven't really built anything," said 12-year-old Brittani Switzer. "I thought it was fun building toolboxes, and painting them was really fun."

Brittani already had a place at home picked out for her toolbox.

"I think I'm going to keep it in my room so I can pull it out when I'm ready," she said.

Brittani, who will be a sixth-grader at Richardson Elementary School, attended the camp with her friends Ciera Hensley and Emily Robinson.

Ciera and Emily have built houses in Mexico as part of an outreach program at Casas Christian School. On their next visit, the girls said, they will be better prepared.

"I'm going to bring my tools the next time I go to Mexico," said Ciera, who is 12. "They will help a lot."

Allison Koon of Clarksville, Tenn., attended the camp with her friend Katelyn Miller, a Marana Middle School student. Allison is in town to visit Katelyn for part of the summer.

Allison, 13, and Katelyn, 12, previously attended an electrical camp in Knoxville, Tenn.

Still, Allison wasn't all that familiar with the construction field.

"There are so many different varieties of construction," she said. "I thought it was just about building stuff."

Camps held nationwide

Camp director Tina Adams started planning the camp about a year ago because girls have little exposure to the construction industry.

The Tucson camp was modeled after a Mentoring a Girl in Construction Camp in Gwinnett County, Ga.

Adams first learned about the camp during the National Association of Women in Construction's national conference last year in Orlando, Fla.

Twelve camps were expected to be held nationwide this year, Adams said.

Tucson's camp is the largest in terms of number of participants, Adams said.

"It's a sense of empowerment when you have your own set of tools," Adams said. "You're not wondering what a hammer is and what a screwdriver is and how to fix your own things."

Adams, who works for Van Rylin Associates Inc., a company that provides construction notices, wants to offer the camp every year.

"This is the beginning of something big," she said. "This is the beginning of something that our young girls are going to be really proud of."