Rosie’s Girls Summer Camp 2026

 

Vermont Works for Women’s Rosie’s Girls camps have officially wrapped for summer 2026! This summer we served 68 campers in 5 communities across Vermont: Barre, Brattleboro, Essex Junction, South Burlington, and St. Johnsbury.

AVIATION

We kicked off the 2026 summer camp season letting campers’ possibilities soar at Rosie’s Girls Aviation! Eight middle school students spent three days exploring the aviation industry. Campers gained hands-on experience with basic tools and processes of airplane mechanics like air drills, riveting, and safety wiring. 

Campers also had the chance to meet with and learn from local industry professionals. On the first day of camp, the group visited Heritage Aviation. They got to sit in a de-icing truck, visit the avionics lab, practice using the phonetic alphabet, and learn about the inner workings of the private aviation industry. 

On the second day of camp, we visited Beta Technologies where campers toured the manufacturing floor, learned about cutting-edge electric aircraft technology, and tested their math and measuring abilities in a mock technical skills-assessment activity. 

The camp week wrapped up with a visit to Vermont Flight Academy where campers learned how to plan a flight path, did a pre-flight check and sat in small planes, and tested their pilot skills using flight simulators. 

Campers left camp even more excited about the world of aviation and its potential career paths. One camper shared, “I want to work on electrical airplanes,” while another said that Rosie’s Girls camp showed her, “I’m capable of doing more than I thought.” Thanks to Burlington Technical Center for partnering with us, and to our friends at Heritage Aviation, BETA Technologies, and Vermont Flight Academy for letting us visit.    

 

 

 

 

 

WELD

At Rosie’s Girls WELD at the Central Vermont Career Center in Barre, 14 campers jumped right to learn the basics of metalworking. Participants were introduced to a variety of tools, including plasma cutters for cutting pieces of metal, MIG welders for joining the pieces together, and metal files and ball peen hammers for shaping and finishing their creations. After learning how to use each of the tools by creating metal flowers, campers then moved on to design their own projects. Drawing inspiration from the scrap metal pile, campers’ imaginations took over, and sparks flew as they crafted decorative boxes, animal figurines, windchimes, bookmarks, abstract aliens, and more! 

Many participants found stepping into the welding booth to be intimidating at first, but their confidence quickly grew over the course of the week. One camper shared that the first few times they used the welder and plasma cutter, “I had to step out of my comfort zone and into my challenge zone. It made me feel pretty nervous, particularly during plasma cutting because of the sparks. Afterwards, I felt a lot braver and I knew that I could easily do it again.” 

On Thursday, local sculptor and stonework artist Heather Milne Ritchie visited camp to talk about her career journey and experience working with granite. Heather is one of the few remaining granite artists in Vermont and is working to bring more young people and women into the field. It was so inspiring to hear her story and see her passion for the craft. Her message for the campers echoed the goals of Rosie’s Girls — follow your interests and never let anyone underestimate you, because with the right tools and support you can achieve anything you set your mind to. 

 

 

 

 

 

BUILD

The 2026 summer camp season wrapped up with a very successful week of Rosie’s Girls BUILD. 14 campers learned how to use a variety of hand and power tools, including hammers, drills, jigsaws, miter saws, and orbital sanders. After learning how to use each tool by making a basic wooden toolbox, campers moved on to design and build customized animal-shaped planter boxes. The group displayed impressive creativity and jigsaw skills. They created a wide variety of designs, including planters in the shape of cows, a shark, giraffe, multiple kinds of dogs, and even a sliding penguin! 

Once they realized the endless possibilities, campers got busy designing all kinds of other creative projects. Choice projects included beach crates, nightstands, a hexagonal wall shelf, a toy house, and more! One camper was surprised at how much they were able to accomplish in just one week, sharing, “I had felt that it would take me a week to build a toolbox, but now I know that I can do so much more.” At the end of the week, participants brought their designs to life by painting and woodburning their creations.  

 

 

 

 

 

PARTNER CAMPS

In collaboration with partner organizations, Rosie’s Girls camps also ran in Brattleboro and St. Johnsbury. Like at the VWW-run programs, participants at our partner camps gained empowering technical skills, made new friendships, and played fun games. At each camp location, youth spent time engaging in our Power Skills curriculum as well as learning to use tools through building unique, hands-on projects. 

Thanks to our partners HatchSpace and Umbrella NEK for helping us bring Rosies Girls to youth around Vermont. 

 

Rosie’s Girls summer camps are funded by generous supporters including: Agnes M. Lindsay Trust, Community National Bank, Concept 2, The Courtney & Victoria Buffum Family Foundation, Town of Essex, The George W. Mergens Foundation, The Keep Driving Foundation, Lucy Downing Nisbet Charitable Fund, Mascoma Bank, National Life Foundation, Northfield Savings Bank, The Oakland Foundation, The Windham Foundation, Rivendell Foundation, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, and others.