FRSA GOES
BACK << TO THE FUTURE BUILDERS OF AMERICA SUMMIT
Mike Silvers, CPRC, Owner of Silvers Systems Inc. and FRSA Technical Director
Back in March of 2019, FRSA participated in its first Future Builders of America (FBA) Leadership Summit (see May 2019 Florida Roofing article). The FBA was founded by members of the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) in 2003. The Summit is attended by high school students active in FBA throughout Florida. They spend several days at the camp learning about the construction industry and participating in other camp activities. At the Summit, we’ve had the opportunity to present a course on roofing for eight different groups of students. Each class is 75 minutes in length and our objective is to expose the students to the many career paths that the roofing industry offers while also providing them with some basic roofing knowledge. The first part of the class includes a presentation called “Why Roofing?” which is meant to answer the question in 20 minutes. The second portion of the class involves hands-on roofing applications on mockups, which helps keep the students engaged. During our first Summit presentation we used a two-ply self-adhering low-slope system for the handson demonstration. The reviews we received on the classes were very positive. Shortly after that, Les Sims, CPRC, Armstrong Roofing Inc., San Mateo, FRSA Educational Research Foundation Endowment Trustee 26
FLORIDA ROOFING | July 2021
and Chairman of the Foundation Board of Governors, was one of our volunteer instructors who suggested to the Trustees that FRSA and the Foundation become Diamond Sponsors of the next event. A commitment was made to support the Summit the following year. One of the great things about the Summit is where it takes place. Through cooperation with the Future Farmers of America (FFA), FBA uses the beautiful FFA Leadership Training Center on Lake Pierce in Haines City. The facility is equipped with a lodge, meeting rooms, apartments, campsites, a swimming pool and much more. It also includes a separate bathroom facility; more on that later. When FBA holds its Summit, students take on construction and maintenance projects at the facility to help return the FFA’s gracious support. The folks at FBA approached FRSA about possibly reroofing the aforementioned bathroom facility as part of the students roofing program. FRSA had concerns about getting anything done within the 75-minute timeframe. We were also concerned about the student’s safety and training them in proper fall protection use. At an FRSA meeting, discussion about our concerns arose and Diana King, Springer-Peterson Roofing & Sheet Metal Inc., Eaton Park, expressed interest in the Polk County Roofing Contractors