Empowerment Through Roofing

By Anna Lockhart.  

Highschoolers attended a special roofing installation training event designed to empower young women in the roofing industry.  

Female students from Manassas Park High School in Manassas, Virginia were given the opportunity to attend a special training course during school hours. Those who attended learned from start to finish how to install a roof as well as other introductory information about the construction and roofing industries.  

According to statistics, about one in ten construction workers are women. GAF and National Women in Roofing are hoping to change that through organizing special training courses designed to teach young girls the basics of roof installation and knowledge of the roofing industry. As most young girls probably do not consider construction or roofing to be on their radars as future career options, these training classing provide them a unique opportunity to change preconceived ideas that those fields aren’t for women.  

“I’ve never, ever thought about construction or roofing,” Daniela Marcia Escobar, a student who attended the training session, explained to reporters from NBC Washington 4. “My takeaway from this so far is that as a girl, I can do anything a guy can do.”  

Now, Daniela has realized that there are more fields and opportunities open to her as future paths that she had never considered.  

Kimberly Santiago, a trainer who led the course, emphasized the importance of showing young girls their potential and ability to learn these skills. She owns her own roofing company and wants to encourage these teens to explore this new opportunity. She explained, “We need to fill that gap, and why not fill it with women who are skilled and knowledgeable and willing to do the work. Who have the guts to get up there and show up every day and just put their all into it.”  

These courses are also designed to inspire young girls who have been exposed to the roofing or construction industries through their family members and who may wish to pursue those paths as well, like Leslie Guzman, whose father works in the construction industry. She participated in the training course to learn more about the industry and what her future career may look like if she went into the trade as well.  

These training courses are more than about recruiting girls to the industry, of course. Even for those who aren’t interested in a career in roofing or construction, these classes and instructors work to emphasize the most important lesson of all — encouraging young girls to pursue their passions no matter the field and that anything is possible. 

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Photo Credit: NBC Washington 4