For most of us high school can be summed up in two words: cliques and hormones. The energy expended avoiding or appeasing the former, and hopelessly trying to control the latter left most of us with little energy for anything else.
But for a group of students at Forest Hills Eastern High School in Ada, Mich., their energies were better suited for a more noble purpose.
In high school I once built a spice rack, these kids went out and built a home.
Recognizing that a local family of Liberian immigrants was in need (ahem, Arizona) the students partnered with Habitat for Humanity and not only raised the necessary $75,000, but also picked up hammers and paint brushes to help with the actual construction.
“It started out as a hole in the ground and built up,” student Erik Bates tells WZZM13. “We’ve seen it from the base of it to the very top of it. We’ve been on the roof, and in the basement, so from start to finish, we’ve been there.”
And by being there every step of the way, they fashioned more than just a home for one very grateful family.
“We’ve really built a sense of community throughout the school as well as in the surrounding areas,” student Melvin Joice says. “It’s been great to work with them and to see what we’ve accomplished.”
It’s become popular to say that “it takes a village,” but for the new homeowners on Spencer Street, all it took were the inspired students of the local high school.
Photo via Habitat for Humanity.