AUBURN – Wearing safety glasses, 13-year-old Makayla Stevens of Lisbon hammered a spindle into what would become a signature Thomas Moser chair.

Upstairs, Litchfield students Maggie Sabine and Aaryn Puterbaugh, both 14, learned how bridges are built.

Outside, three young women from Lake Region Vocational Center in Naples stood near a Maine Department of Transportation truck, hearing what it’s like to drive a snowplow.

And Bethel students Katie MacGregor, 15, and Michelle Aron, 16, assembled model houses, learning about architecture.

Girls in hard hats seemed to be everywhere at Central Maine Community College’s “Totally Trades Conference” Friday.

It was the first time the trades conference was held, but it could become an annual event. About 140 young women from 12 middle and high schools attended.

“The whole idea is there’s trade areas that young students don’t consider for career choices,” said Walter Ridlon, the school’s tech-prep coordinator. Working with Women, Work and Community and Women Unlimited, Ridlon put together hands-on seminars for the students.

The classes, led mostly by women, included construction equipment, rigging and crane operations, firefighting and EMT, graphic arts, architecture, carpentry, bridge building, computer technology, electronics, law enforcement, heirloom chair production, trucking and machine tooling.

Women should consider those careers, said Sally Davis of Women, Work and Community. The pay is good, and the jobs allow women to work with their hands or work outdoors.

In one classroom, two female Thomas Moser chair-builders helped the attendees learn how to build chairs.

“They’re doing the top. They’re doing a great job,” said chair-builder Jill Blank.

Students from Philip W. Sugg Middle School in Lisbon were there “to learn more about careers and what girls can do,” said Kyrstein Ramich, 13. “I thought building a chair would be fun. I like to do hands-on.”

At the Moser Auburn shop, about 28 percent of workers are women, said Blank. The starting pay is $10 to $12 an hour and it goes up to $18 an hour, she said.

Blank said she’s been building for three years. “I love it. My father and brother worked for the company. I thought it might be a good opportunity to work with my hands. That’s important to me. It’s not just a man’s world.”

Sandy Cautillo of Wilton and Staci Thompson of North Anson agreed. They’re highway workers and truck drivers for the Maine Department of Transportation.

It’s fun, Cautillo said, to watch people’s faces when she gets out of the truck. “There’s nothing a man can do that you can’t, if you put your mind to it,” she said.

Jordan Pandora, 16, said she’s never driven a big truck. “I’d like to. All I have is my pickup truck for now.”

Cautillo said her daughter’s friends tell her she’s their hero because she drives a big truck. Looking at the young women, she said, “You can, too.”