Marissa Morgans, a freshman at Oak Hill High School in Wales, waits for her turn to try welding at the Totally Trades Conference at Central Maine Community College in Auburn on Friday morning. The workshop, geared toward removing gender bias in the trades, featured hands-on workshops including building construction, electricity, plumbing, heavy equipment, law enforcement and forensics, automotive technology, emergency rescue, coding robots and welding. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn

Danielle Carr, a junior at Poland Regional High School and an active participant in Lewiston Regional Technical Center, talks to freshmen Nevaeh Thibodeau, left, and Morgan Wade from Leavitt Area High School in Turner, and Hailey Pushard of Oak Hill High School in Wales. These students will have access to Lewiston Regional Technical Center classes once they reach the 10th grade. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn

Paul Kennedy shows Megan Fletcher, from Dirigo High School, how to work with copper piping in a plumbing workshop at the Totally Trades Conference at Central Maine Community College on Friday morning. The program brought together over 100 9th graders to encourage girls to consider careers in fields traditionally populated by men. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn