One of the classes that the Tupelo Career Technical Center offers is automotive. Automotive is enjoyed by many students, especially Melanie Van Vleet. According to Deloitte women only make up a quarter of the automotive industry and in automotive class at Tupelo the girls have learned to support one another.

 “We learn teamwork, because it’s like our girls stay together with the boys. They’re a little overconfident,” Van Vleet said “But as girls we stick together and then we help each other on everything.” 

This class is very beneficial to every one that takes the class and the young women have enjoyed every minute of it.

“They teach you how to rebuild a car. So if your car breaks down on the side of the road you know what to do,” Van Vleet said. 

Van Vleet encourages others to consider taking the class especially females considering the automotive industry 

“I will tell them all the advantages of taking all of these classes and especially like nowadays,” Van Vleet said “Women, if they go into [some of these] careers they make a lot more money that way.