ENCINITAS — The Grauer School’s Girl Rising Club hosted Talena Handley, owner of Girlie Garage, for an in-person workshop on automotive maintenance and safety for International Women’s Day on March 8.
The Girlie Garage workshop’s goal was to empower Grauer girls around a traditionally male activity. The students got under the hood and learned basic automotive safety and maintenance as well as how to navigate a mechanic and handle a potential emergency.
“This year, students in our Girl Rising Club expressed an interest in partnering with a local female-owned company on International Women’s Day to promote awareness and education around this day,” said Lindsay Zickler, director of development and community engagement at the Grauer School. “The Grauer School was founded on the principle of ‘Learning by Discovery’ and this collaboration with Girlie Garage is perfectly aligned with Grauer’s mission, core values and emphasis on project-based learning.”
The Grauer School’s Girl Rising Club was initially formed in 2013. The club’s mission is to help promote and support education for girls around the world and to explore and discuss challenges both at home and abroad.
Like many of the initiatives at Grauer, this collaboration with Girlie Garage was student-driven and incorporated project-based learning.
“Until I can find other like-minded female mechanics, Girlie Garage is moving away from physically fixing cars for the moment, so we can focus on the education and consulting component,” Handley said. “You can only help a handful of people if you physically fix their cars, but you can help millions of people if you provide them the resources to keep their car maintained and have a good relationship with an honest mechanic.”
