WALKER – Livingston Parish Schools are encouraging girls to consider careers in the automotive industry and officials hope to eventually implement a "girls-only" automotive class. 

Female student ambassadors and high school counselors from each of Livingston’s nine schools were invited to attend an informational session at the parish’s automotive learning center in the Livingston Literacy and Technology Center in Walker. 

The girls and counselors heard from local professionals and academic leaders who said they looked forward to enrolling and hiring more women in automotive certification programs. Speakers included automotive program directors from Baton Rouge Community College and Northshore Technical Community College, as well as representatives from O’Reilly’s Auto Parts and a host of other businesses. 

Career Technical Education Coordinator, Staci Polozola said, “Our goal is to better educate and create greater awareness of career opportunities that women have in those career fields that are now male-dominated. There is now a high demand for women in many of these fields; but for many girls, these opportunities are not even on their radars.” 

The district hopes this session and additional promotions that are in the works will generate enough interest to offer the “girls-only” automotive class in the summer or sometime next year.