13 is the lucky number!

By The Coffee Shops®. 

The Melvin Kruger Scholarship Program awarded 13 new and renewal scholarships to students for the 2026-27 year. 

The Roofing Alliance, a powerful network of more than 210 forward-thinking industry leaders committed to advancing and shaping the future of the roofing industry, is proud to be supporting the next generation of construction and roofing industry professionals through the 2026-27 Melvin Kruger Scholarship Award!  

This program offers three scholarship opportunities and is open to employees of roofing industry companies, their spouses and dependent children. It is also open to undergraduate-level construction management students and students enrolled in career and technical education programs or schools, regardless of industry affiliation.  

The entire goal of it is to support young people pursuing construction management, architecture, engineering, business and related studies. As Roofing Alliance Executive Director Alison LaValley put it, “Scholarships are one of the most meaningful ways we can invest in the future of our industry. By supporting students pursuing careers in construction management and related fields, we're not only helping them achieve their educational goals — we're strengthening the workforce and ensuring the roofing industry has the talented leaders it needs for tomorrow.” 

For the 2026-27 program year, the Roofing Alliance awarded a total of $59,000 spread among 13 new Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship recipients! These recipients were Garrett Beckstead (Louisiana State University), Nasheed Benjamin (Tuskegee University), Jaleni Diaz De Leon (Colorado State University), Carter Dominique (Ohio State University), Tanner Gawith (Tuskegee University), Sascha Oliveira (Penn State York), Rylee Raukits (University of Florida), Yahir Reyes-Morga (Forsyth Technical Community College), Alessandro Rignanese (Florida International University), Ashwin Varadhan (Auburn University), Norman Warcholik (Arizona State University), Austin Ziringer (Columbus State Community Colleg) and Kyle Ziringer (Ohio State University). 

An additional $55,000 was awarded to 12 students through renewal scholarships. All of this brings the total number of students and awarded funds in the Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship program to 186 students and $1,366,500.