High School Juniors Shift Learning into High Gear at BOCES

ALBANY/SCHOHARIE – Several high school juniors in the Capital Region BOCES Automotive Trades Technology program are shifting their futures into high gear while reversing decades of career gender assumptions.

Sage Steenburg and Kylee-Lynn Rios are among a handful of females enrolled as juniors in the Automotive Trades Technology program at the Career and Technical Education Center – Schoharie and Albany campuses.

Once entrenched in the industry, the scholars will be part of a small segment of the industry. In fact, only 12% of the 782,000 automotive mechanics in the United States are women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month, Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School will be shining a spotlight on women in the trades – those women who are challenging gender stereotypes and building solid futures through their time at Capital Region BOCES. VanWormer, from Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, and Graves and Barber, both from Middleburgh, are among those to be profiled.

For Rios, a Schoharie High School student, pursuing an automotive education was a “no-brainer.”

“I grew up in a shop with my grandfather. He was big into cars and trucks, and I am too,” she said.

Steenburg, a Scotia-Glenville student,  said she has always wanted to be in automotive repair.

“It’s been a dream for my whole life to work on cars,” she said.

Steenburg plans to one day own a car dealership, while Rios plans to study diesel technology and eventually focus on working on truck engines.

Both juniors said they have acclimated well to working and learning in a predominantly male program at BOCES.

“Everyone has been great,” Rios said. “The program is amazing.”

Steenburg agreed.

“The people here are great. When I am not here, people underestimate what I can do, so it fuels my desire to be good at what I do,” she said.

There are about 100 students—approximately a dozen of whom are women—on the Schoharie and Albany campuses who chose CTE to learn the skills necessary to launch careers in the automotive repair industry. Students in the two-year program learn everything from computerized diagnostics to hands-on repairs while gaining the skills to service and maintain all types of cars and light trucks. Students are prepared to enter the industry or pursue higher education and earn professional certifications that will aid them no matter the path they choose.

Recruitment for the 2025-26 school year is underway. Anyone interested in information on attending our Automotive Trades program or any of our programs, or may go to https://www.capitalregionboces.org/visit-career-and-technical-ed/.