Home Built By Evanston High Schoolers Will Be Placed In Local Neighborhood

EVANSTON, IL — This year's Evanston Township High School student-built home will be delivered to its permanent location at the beginning of next month.

On Aug. 3 at 9 a.m., the two-story house will travel from 1600 Dodge Ave. to 2120 Darrow Ave., with temporary parking restrictions and a street closure expected along the route.

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The home was built through ETHS' Geometry In Construction course, a program that gives students a chance to learn math by building a house. The finished home is then sold as affordable housing through the City of Evanston and Community Partners for Affordable Housing.

"We just love being a partner with high school in the city on this," CPAH President Rob Anthony said. "We work in a lot of different communities, and when people hear about this they say, 'Oh, my God, we want to do that!' It's just phenomenal that the high school committed to this and they've been doing it for so long."

With each new home, a familiar process begins as the floor plan tends to stay the same year to year, with the exception of the first house the class built in 2013.

Co-teachers Maryjoy Heineman and Matt Kaiser work with the architect DonnaLee Floeter to make sure the home fits in well with the neighborhood. The teachers make decisions on aesthetic details like the color of the siding, shingles and the trim and the students get to work.

Throughout the year, there are some fluctuations in excitement levels among students, Kaiser said, but in the end the process is rewarding. Students leave the class with the experience of seeing geometry in action on the build site.

"The class is designed so that the geometry is driven by how you build a home," Heineman said. "We shift away from a traditional geometry curriculum and go with what sort of tools can we take from geometry that we could apply to what we're building right in front of us."

The moving route will take the house east on Lake Street, north on Dodge Avenue, east on Simpson Street and north on Darrow Avenue. Community members can expect minor delays while trying to access homes and businesses during the move, according to the announcement.

Darrow Avenue will be closed from Simpson to Payne streets from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., including both sidewalks.