A passion for training

By Jenny Yu. 

Polyglass’s Polyschool demonstrates the power of hands-on roofing training. 

Hands-on training continues to play a critical role in the strengthening of the roofing workforce, as highlighted in this special edition of CoatingsTalk™, hosted live from the Polyglass Polyschool facility in Winter Haven, Florida. The session brought together technical experts to discuss and demo how education and training initiatives are improving installation quality, workforce retention and overall business performance.  

Polyglass offers many forms of education, including on-site demos and lunch-and-learns, but the heart of their offerings is Polyschool, Polyglass’s training program designed to provide classroom instruction and real-world application. “Training is our passion,” said Marie Ferrer, national technical training manager for Polyglass. “We want to make sure that everything is translated into you being able to apply what you're doing.” 

Polyschool’s approach emphasizes active participation through a “tell, show, do, apply” methodology, allowing attendees to participate in technique demonstrations, practice opportunities and immediate feedback. This hands-on model reflects how adult learners retain information and helps crews bring best practices back to the jobsite. “You’re never bored,” Marie stated.  

For Allie Spangler, district sales manager for the Southwest Florida region, the in-person experience is a key differentiator. “For the sales team, this has become an extension of us,” Allie said. “There are so many modes of communication now, but ultimately, face-to-face is still authentic. That's what we want to do here at Polyschool.” 

That said, Allie also noted Polyglass’s online, virtual training sessions on their YouTube channel, PolyFlix: “Highly recommend it. It offers a lot of installation tips, how-to videos and time trials.” 

During the webinar, Gianluca Venturin, technical services representative of Polyglass, and Henry Rives, national technical services manager for Polyglass, led live demonstrations focused on installation best practices. One best practice Gianluca wanted to highlight was the importance of attention to detail in critical areas.  

“We touched on many products, but one thing every crew should take back from this demo is the importance of T-joints,” Gianluca said. “I do many on-site observations, and sometimes I find that T-joints are the weakest point. So, maybe spend two minutes more on a T-joint, and this will prevent leaks.” 

Henry agreed. “A half-second procedure that can save you an hour later,” Henry said. “And, it makes for better roofing. It’s the way it should be done.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the webinar to see Polyschool training in action!