Sandy Thistle, Carpentry Instructor
This carpenter and educator is giving girls and women opportunities to explore building as a career path.
The face of construction is slowly becoming more diverse, but women still represent only 11% of the industry’s workforce, with hammer swingers, tinners, and wire pullers just a fraction of that percentage. Sandy Thistle, a carpenter of 34 years, my fellow carpentry instructor at Madison College, and the founder of CampBUILD, a Girl Scout camp that puts tools in the hands of girls ages six to 18, wants women to see themselves as builders.
When Sandy was growing up, her father would ask her brother to help build projects but told Sandy, “You can’t do this.” Years later she tried college, but sitting for hours studying for a career that would likely have her sitting at a desk for hours didn’t work for her. It wasn’t until two of Sandy’s friends, both women, started carpentry apprenticeships that Sandy finally gave herself permission to become a carpenter.
On her first day on the job, the crew lead had Sandy carrying walers across a bridge 60 ft. over the Wisconsin River. It was scary and difficult, but she did it, and showed up the next day, and the next. Thirty-five years later, having worked projects as varied as bridge-building to cabinetmaking, she knows that carpentry was the right choice for her, and she enjoys the pride that comes from driving over the bridge that launched her career.
Sandy is eager to give girls and women the opportunities she did not have when she was young. Since 1991, she has been teaching carpentry, with a focus on helping women be successful in the trades. In 2019, she founded CampBUILD to encourage girls to explore building as a career path. As she developed CampBUILD, Sandy tapped into her network of tradeswomen, many of whom were once her students, asking them to participate in the camp as teachers and role models to the campers.
“If girls can see women who do this for a living work with confidence, skill, and enjoyment, they will more easily imagine themselves performing in these same ways.” — Sandy Thistle
After long days at CampBUILD, the tradeswomen meet up to celebrate. And thus was born the Tradies of Madison, a network of mentors who meet monthly to share their challenges, celebrate their triumphs, and create even more space for women in the industry. And it all started with Sandy.
— Allie Berenyi, instructor at Madison College and member of the Tradies
Keep Craft Alive is our campaign celebrating those who have chosen to passionately pursue a career in design, building, and remodeling. Find out more and show your support by visiting KeepCraftAlive.org, and use #KeepCraftAlive to share your passion for the cause.
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