St. Petersburg, FL – July 31, 2007.  The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) Tampa Bay Area Chapter announced that it awarded its 2007 Education Scholarship to Ricardo DeGracia, Largo, Fla. A second year student in construction at the Pinellas Technical Education Center (PTEC), DeGracia is a recent immigrant into the United States from the Philippines joining family members who have been U. S. residents for more than 10 years.  In preparation for moving to the United States, DeGracia studied English by reading English newspapers, business magazines, fiction and nonfiction books.  Included were his favorites - biographies on Presidents Washington and Lincoln. DeGracia was motivated to learn skills in construction after observing his uncle build a home in Mindanao and thus enrolled in training soon after arriving in Florida. He plans to use his construction skills not only on the job but to also help others through organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together.  DeGracia’s philosophy is “happiness cannot be obtained through money, nice houses, cars, clothes, or materialistic things alone …. Happiness is in compassion and helping others. I plan to obtain my happiness by volunteering to build homes for the homeless, underprivileged children and their families.” 

The NARI scholarship is given annually to help encourage and financially assist those interested in entering or furthering their careers in the construction industry.  It is given annually to NARI member employees and their family members and students in NARI supported education programs like PTEC. 
    
The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) is a not-for-profit trade association with more than 50 years of industry experience and 53 chapters nationwide. NARI is the only national association dedicated solely to the remodeling industry and its focus is on professional conduct, continuing education and training, and fair and ethical treatment within the industry. Members of NARI are full service contractors, design-build firms, product manufacturers, suppliers, subcontractors, lenders and other related professionals who work in the remodeling field.

For additional information regarding the NARI Tampa Bay scholarship, contact the NARI Tampa Bay office at 727-578-2207 or via email at info@nari-tampabay.org.

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