Ask a typical teenage girl what she wants for Christmas, and you're not likely to get Whitney Allen's answer.

"I got a lathe, and it was my favorite present," says the Lancaster girl. "I was so excited, I almost started crying."

In her free time, Whitney hopes to use the lathe to transform some pieces of exotic wood she has collected into bowls.

It's something she excels at, thanks to her hands-on experience in the Cabinet Making and Millwork program of Lancaster County Career & Technology Center, Brownstown.

Seventeen-year-old Whitney ("I turn 18 in 16 days," she says) will graduate from LCCTC and Manheim Township High School this year.

She's been accepted into the Cabinet Making and Fine Furniture program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, which she plans to complete in two years.
Why cabinetry? What's the appeal for you?
I like taking something like rough lumber and seeing it through to the final product.
What's it like being one of two girls in the cabinetry program?
Whenever you're in a man's field, you have to prove yourself ... once you've done that, you're just like anyone else in the program.
Did anyone influence your decision to focus on cabinetry?
My grandmother really got me into artsy things. She showed me all about taking something ordinary and making it into something cool.

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