MILFORD,
Ohio—As a petite, young woman who has real-life experience and education in
a male-dominated vocation, Maddy Horton may have some “small” advantages in her
intended career.
The
soft-spoken 18-year-old senior from Anderson is the only girl among 30 enrolled
in the two-year heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) program at the
Live Oaks Career Development Campus.
HVAC instructor Brad
O’Donnell says Horton’s diminutive stature will give her an edge over some of
her male peers because “she has small hands and can get into tight spaces.” But
he says the more important advantage Horton will have on many of her cohorts
male or female is that she is very good at her chosen vocation.
“She is one of the best
brazers (pictured above) I have and a very good student,” said O’Donnell, who is in his second-year
as an instructor after spending 21 years in the HVAC field. Brazing is a
process similar to welding in which a lower-heat flame is used to coat metal
with a film of protective brass.
Another
positive trait Horton has, according to O’Donnell, is that she “is very
clean”—knowing the importance of creating and maintaining a spotless work
environment.
When she graduates in
May from Live Oaks’ accredited program, Horton will be considered an HVAC commercial
and residential repair technician, qualified to build ductwork troubleshoot
and repair gas, oil, and electric furnaces; hydronic boilers; and air
conditioners and heat pumps.
Horton is certified in
aerial lift equipment through Bobcat as well as CPR/First Aid as part of her
curriculum. She will be able to take the Environmental Protection Agency Refrigerant
Recovery Certification exam and is a couple of hours away from getting her OSHA
10 card with the rest of her classmates.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour
online Construction Industry Outreach Training program provides entry-level
workers with critical knowledge about a variety of OSHA-regulated safety and
health topics to ensure on-site safety.
Upon graduation, Horton
will also likely have something many soon-to-be college graduates will not
have—a fulltime job.
The U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported that employment for heating, air conditioning and
refrigeration mechanics and installers would increase 34 percent from 2010-2020,
much faster than the average for all occupations. Job prospects for
the field are expected to be excellent, particularly for those who have
completed training from an accredited career-technical school such as Live
Oaks.
O’Donnell says the industry
tends to thrive no matter the overall economy and most students can expect to
start in entry-level jobs at between $10 and $14 an hour. Ohio’s median hourly
wage for the industry was more than $21 in 2010, with growing opportunities in
management, inspection and green energy.
Horton, who also plans to join the
National Guard, is interviewing with a downtown Cincinnati sheet metal company
because she enjoys building ductwork in homes. She can also probably find temporary
or part-time work with her step-father, who is an electrician, or her
grandfather, who took her on plumbing jobs when he baby-sat her as a pre-teen
and planted those career seeds.
“A lot of my family were
doing this kind of work around me and liked it growing up,” Horton says. She
started in the Live Oaks welding program, which might explain her skill level
in brazing, but thought a HVAC career offered the chance to learn a bit more
diverse skills.
She has not been
intimidated as the only girl in the HVAC program. “They treat me like them,”
says Horton and she is okay with being one of the guys. She gets plenty of
female-bonding in her other Live Oaks classes—which include English, government
and advanced algebra.
Although she knows she
will have to apprentice as worker bee for several years, she envisions owning
her own company someday.
Students in the HVAC
programs at Great Oaks can also earn college credits for a number of Ohio colleges
and post-secondary schools and can eventually pursue advanced degrees in fields
such as engineering, an option Horton is also considering.
Live Oaks also offers
an adult HVAC program in which only one woman is enrolled.
-Live Oaks-
