By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

How many girls does it take to find a dipstick to check the engine oil in a car?

If you're a Girl Scout, chances are it takes only one.

Seven scouts from the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland took part last weekend in the inaugural "Let's Get Technical" program at the Hays campus of North Central Kansas Technical College.

It was an opportunity to learn about welding, electricity, automotive technology and pharmacy technology -- four of the programs offered by NCKTC in Hays.

It also was a chance for the scouts to show their stuff.

"We've been doing this for years," said Brianna Deenihan, an 18-year-old from Hill City.

Deenihan and her 16-year-old sister, Erin, were busy checking the engine oil, transmission fluid and power steering fluid in a 1998 Jeep Liberty owned by the technical college.

They explained it was old hat for them.

They had grown up watching their dad, Michael, who owned a motorcycle and automobile repair shop in Hill City, work on vehicles.

After Michael Deenihan died in a motorcycle accident about four years ago, the girls' mother, Jan, took it upon herself to make sure her daughters learned the ins and outs of how to care for their vehicles.

"I'm scared of the transmission one -- it's so hot," Erin said.

That's exactly why Mark Rathbun welcomed explaining safety precautions and the correct way of under-the-hood tasks to the girls.

Rathbun, chairman of the automotive technology department on the Hays campus, said he and the Hays dean, Don Benjamin, are hoping to start a similar class to be offered for females beginning this fall.

The class for the Girl Scouts was the first of its kind since the technical college received a Carl Perkins Grant, a federal grant for technical education funded through the Legislature to teach about "non-traditional" occupations.

While the Deenihans were familiar with a car engine, others complimented other programs for having received at least some limited knowledge about cars.

"I learned this in driver's ed (class)," said JoAnn Ashbaugh, a 15-year-old from Hoxie.

Ashbaugh's partner while working on a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis was 15-year-old Jessica Pfeifer, Hays.

Tori Warren, a 2008 graduate from the electronics program at NCKTC's Beloit campus, told the scouts about her success in a non-traditional career.

Warren, who had been planning to attend college at Emporia State University and major in history, said she changed her mind a couple of weeks before her high school graduation.

Her father, Marty Warren, taught electronics at Altamont-Labette County High School in southeast Kansas, so his daughter thought it was a natural to take the course.

Her senior year at Labette County, Warren won first place in electronics at the Skills USA competition and went on to finish fifth at nationals.

"I thought, 'I might actually be good at this,' " she said. "Then, Aeroflex called and offered me an internship."

Aeroflex Wichita designs and manufactures testing equipment for mobile radio products.

The company was so pleased with Warren's work, it offered to pay for her tuition to go through the electronics program at NCKTC's Beloit campus, then return to work for Aeroflex.

Warren talked to the scouts about the pros and cons of pursuing a male-dominated career.

They then learned a little about welding, where instructor Bob Meistrell made each girl a nameplate of their own out of a metal plate.

After a lunch break, it was on to residential electricity where Benjamin helped the scouts make their own extension cord.

"The cable that was purchased for the extension cord was really heavy, and I was amazed that none of them ever gave up," Benjamin said. "Once the first (scout) got done, I could see that the competition was on. They worked pretty hard."

Following the session in the auto tech building, the day was completed in the pharmacy technology department, where instructor Brian Dechant gave each scout a prescription to fill, using candy.

"We're trying to develop more life skills, leadership with the girls," said Virginia Jacobs, program service manager for Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland, which services 16 counties in northwest Kansas. "I thought they learned quite a bit."