Minuteman Students Use Their Skills At Acton House

PHOTO CAPTION: The junior class plumbers from Minuteman High School at the Habitat for Humanity house in Acton, L-R, Justin Minor, Anthony Torres, Dan Mericantante, Darwin Perez, Stephen Gianino, Tim Mericantante, Alexis Gazza, Joshua Vaglica, and Mark Galvin. Photo by Kyle Romano.

By Judy Bass

ACTON – A cornerstone of career and technical education at Minuteman High School in Lexington involves having students put their newly-acquired skills to use outside the classroom on actual projects in the field. When their work benefits people in the community, students have an opportunity to understand the tremendous value of their knowledge in human terms, not exclusively as a means for them to earn a living.

Such an opportunity now exists in Acton, one of Minuteman’s member towns, where 30 juniors and seniors from the school are helping Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts to refurbish a historic duplex for occupancy by two families. According to Kyle Romano, a Minuteman HVAC/R and Plumbing teacher and offsite project coordinator, the students are tasked with doing the plumbing and electrical, as well as the heating system.

This is not the first time that Minuteman has partnered with Habitat for Humanity. In fact, Mr. Romano said that the collaboration between the award-winning high school and the internationally-renowned philanthropic organization goes back some 10 years.

“It’s good to see them taking what they learned in class and doing real-world work,” said Mr. Romano. ”They develop a sense of pride because it’s real work.” He mentioned that it’s gratifying for him as well, as their teacher, to see the students applying their know-how in a philanthropic, productive way.

In fact, Mr. Romano said that many of them expressed a sense of satisfaction about being able to use their skills in a real-world situation while also assisting families in need.

Habitat’s web site explains the organization’s mission and how they fulfill it: “People in your community and all over the world partner with Habitat to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Habitat’s homebuyers invest hundreds of hours of their own labor, called sweat equity, working alongside volunteers and other Habitat homeowners, in addition to paying an affordable mortgage and receiving financial education. Habitat for Humanity follows a nondiscriminatory policy of family selection. Neither race nor religion is a factor in choosing Habitat’s homeowners.”

In addition, Habitat assists with housing after natural disasters, aids homeowners who want to repair their own homes, and renovates homes.

Slated for completion by early March 2019, each home in the duplex has just over 1,300 square feet. Executive Director Carolyn Read of Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts said, “The duplex was built in the late 1800s as factory worker housing. It’s in the Historic District in South Acton [the address is 43-45 School Street], and we’re honored to be returning the home to use as affordable housing.”

She also described how Minuteman’s involvement came about. “We reached out to Minuteman early in the project to talk about partnering for this build. We knew that Minuteman students had successfully worked on other Habitat for Humanity homes, and hoped that we could partner for this home. We’re very thankful to the teachers and students for helping us to renovate these homes and provide two affordable homes for local families.”

The results thus far have been impressive. Ms. Read stated, “The teachers and students have been diligent in their work and easy to work with on the job site. Our construction manager has been very positive about the experience, and the teachers have been great at communication with me and my staff. Every day we see the need in the industry for qualified, well-trained tradespeople and we are very happy to be a part of the education process for your students.”

Minuteman’s goal of preparing young people to be caring, committed members of their community fits in perfectly with Habitat’s philosophy of reaching out to citizens in need. “These homes are being built for two families—one a family of four and the other a family of five—who work locally but cannot afford the housing costs in our region,” said Ms. Read. “Our mission is to work together to build homes, communities, and hope, and your students are part of building that hope.

Minuteman is eight months away from moving into a new $145M facility that has been designed to support a robust college and career academy model. The academy model was adopted by staff and administration to create smaller “schools within a school” thereby promoting more personalized learning founded upon close relationships between students and teachers. The Minuteman college and career academy model integrates rigorous academics with relevant technical programming in occupational areas providing individual economic opportunity. The new facility will accommodate project-based learning across disciplines, requiring students to learn how to work on a diverse team, solve problems and think critically. These are essential 21st-century skills that students practice and apply in a variety of school-based and work-based environments.

As an accredited member of the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC), Minuteman inspires all students to attain their full potential, accelerate their learning, and become purposeful citizens in the global community.