The ninth annual Lehigh Valley Let’s Build Construction Camp for Girls was held in June, in Bethlehem, PA.  Since the camp’s inception, ATAS International, Inc. has proudly supported three of these programs through sponsorships, material donations, and dedicated employee volunteers.

This free, week-long camp is designed to introduce middle and high school-aged girls to career opportunities in the construction trades while teaching valuable life skills. Campers learn the safe use of hand and power tools and apply those skills through hands-on activities in carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, HVAC, masonry, roofing, interior design, painting, flooring, and metal panel installation.  This year, campers at the Lehigh Valley camp installed ATAS’ Opaline aluminum wall panels and trim on the exterior of structures they built. The panels, featuring a walnut finish from the Woodland Series of woodgrain print coats in a durable 70% PVDF paint finish, added both beauty and realism to the campers’ projects.

A mid-week field trip is a signature part of the camp experience. This year, the girls visited a cement block manufacturer, an architectural firm, a recently completed apartment complex, and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, where they selected decorative elements to personalize their finished structures.

Lee Ann Slattery, Sales Support Manager at ATAS and a founding member of the Lehigh Valley camp’s planning committee, shared:  “It’s been an honor to serve on the committee since the beginning. Next year we’ll be celebrating the camp’s 10th anniversary, which is very exciting. The most rewarding part of the camp is watching the girls grow in confidence in just one week.  They begin to realize they’re capable of much more than they thought, and that can have a lasting impact on their lives.”

ATAS extends its sincere thanks to the employee volunteers who helped make this year’s camps a success.  Tim Coughlan, Kevin Klersy, and Julie Wheeland led the metal wall panel installation at the Lehigh Valley camp.  For the Arizona and Ohio camps, where the campers learned to install metal roofing, Jerry Spores and Brian Silvius assisted in Arizona, and Matt Jacobs supported the Ohio camp.