Holly Warren
Ranger Reporter
Women in Industry is an upcoming event on Thursday March 26, 2026 at Amarillo Collages East Campus Student Support Center, Gymnasium.
This upcoming Women in Industry event is all about helping students engage and learn more about the trade industries. David Hall, Dean of Industry and Skilled Trades at Amarillo Colleges East Campus explains, “A lot of students in high school I think don’t maybe get the full picture of what the trades are and what you can do with it. So, it’s just about celebrating success and showing what a career in this industrial technical trades can be for someone, because they can definitely provide a life sustaining wage and a good life for your family.”
Now after learning more about this Women in Industry event, here are some things people can look forward to and expect from this event. Mr. Hall said this about what he is looking forward to, “So this year we’ve got one graduate, returning named Kristen Ciros, and she has started a career in machining, and she’s doing really well, she’s gonna come back and speak to the participants, and we have Vonnie, I can’t remember her last name, but she went through our construction program and I believe she works at Habitat for Humanity, and She’s learned some skills out here and now has a career helping the community. So just learning about those different things and former students with what they’re doing now is what I’m looking forward to most.”
After learning about who is going to be there and what to look forward to. With more events like Women in Industry, is there really an increase of more women applicants for these degrees and careers? Mr. Hall has this to say, “We sure do. Each year I could walk around it and talk to students and just ask them, how did you learn about Amarillo College? How did you get here so we can kind of refine our approach to attract more people and I always hear at least a couple of students say oh yeah, I came out for women in industry. So yeah, we absolutely, see a return of students.”Now with the basics being know about this upcoming Women in Industry event, Mr. Hall has this to say about some benefits for being in the skilled trades, “Because there’s such a great demand by employers to hire students, then that means there’s a lot of companies out there that are paying for students to go. We have the traditional Emerald College foundation scholarship, and within that there are several scholarship that are ear marks just for skilled trades. Theres scholarships for automotive, scholarships for welding, there’s financial support through the Texas workforce commission. They’re in demand in the states so that means there’s extra funding, so a student just has to fill out a little more paperwork and they’re eligible to receive funding for uniforms and tools and to pay for the classes. Theres some scholarships to pay for truck driving programs for students, so there’s lots of financial support out there.”
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