Minuteman High School group refurbishes damaged New Orleans house

PHOTO CAPTION:

The Minuteman High School crew in New Orleans, where they worked on a home in 2017.

From the first step: Otto Rademacher, left to right behind Otto: Mr. Clifford Keirstead, Diana Robbins-Bouquillon, Alyce Wellerbrady, Lillie Powell, Fae Eisenheim, Mr. Kyle Romano, Roxanna Sanjar, third step, left, Anna Clark, Charles Lovett, Samantha Thebodo.

On the porch in the back, Mr. Watson, Mrs. Watson (homeowners of one of the houses Minuteman worked on last year where insulation was installed), Kameryn Montimes, Ben Roth, Emma Leone, Ms. Michelle Roche, Mark Galvin, Nadi Khadka, Taisha Michel.

Photo by Erin Bordeau.

By Judy Bass

NEW ORLEANS – A vital cornerstone of career and technical education at Minuteman High School in Lexington is the practical, hands-on experience students get when they put their newly acquired skills to use outside the classroom.

An enthusiastic group of students from Minuteman proved that when they traveled to New Orleans from April 8 - April 14, 2018 to help refurbish a home that was severely damaged by a post-Hurricane Katrina tornado.

Not only did they learn that their knowledge can be utilized to significantly improve people’s lives, but they also came to appreciate the tremendous value of teamwork and to recognize the crucial need that exists for individuals with abilities just like theirs.

“This is what education is all about,” affirmed Minuteman Director of Career and Technical Education Michelle Roche, who went on the New Orleans trip, the third one that Minuteman students have made to New Orleans for humanitarian reasons. “It wasn’t about going on a vacation, and the kids understood that.”

The Minuteman effort was conducted under the aegis of an organization called Mass Nine for the 9th, which originated at Newton North High School and whose goal, as explained on their web site, is to bring “the emerging technical skills of our students…to the service of those most in need: the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans. Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, at least 8,000 to 10,000 families are still unable to return to their homes. We will collaborate with at least nine career vocational and technical education schools (CVTE) from across Massachusetts to create a curriculum of caring as we help to rebuild homes.”

(Individuals from Minuteman went to Louisiana and Pearlington, Mississippi in 2008 to perform similar home-rebuilding work. In fact, it was their trip to Pearlington which helped plant the seed for Mass Nine for the 9th that was carried forward by Newton North.)

To further facilitate Minuteman’s endeavor, they partnered with The St. Bernard Project (now called SBP), which specializes in helping people with issues related to disaster preparation and recovery. Additionally, four AmeriCorps-trained students assisted the Minuteman people with carpentry procedures like sanding and mudding, which involves mixing gypsum dust with water to make a thick, mud-like compound to seal the joints between sheets of drywall. A crew from Newton North arrived in New Orleans the following week and continued the process by priming and painting.

The Minuteman delegation that went to New Orleans included students Samantha Thebodo ’19 (Arlington); Taisha Michel ’20 (Arlington); Kameryn Montimes ’20 (Everett); Anna Clark ’19 (Wakefield); Lillie Powell ’19 (Wayland); Ben Roth ’18 (Arlington); Roxanna Sanjar ’20 (Bolton); Otto Rademacher ’20 (Arlington); Fae Eisenheim ’19 (Arlington); Alyce Wellerbrady ’18 (Boston); Dara Wall ’19 (Arlington); Emma Leone ’20 (Lancaster); Nadishna Khadka ’20 (Arlington); Mark Galvin ’20 (Arlington); and Charles Lovett ’20 (Arlington).

In addition to Ms. Roche, the adults who accompanied the Minuteman students were plumbing instructor Kyle Romano, carpentry instructor Clifford Keirstead and art instructor Erin Bordeau, along with Diana Robbins-Bouquillon, former director of career and technical education at Newton North and Mass Nine for the 9th coordinator.

“We kept them all kind of busy,” reports Ms. Roche. “There was a lot of work to be done to the house.” It was rebuilt in the aftermath of Katrina, then heavily damaged again by a tornado years later, she said. The roof was ripped off and the garage was flattened. The Minuteman group primed and pained the walls, among numerous other tasks.

They adhered to a tight, no-frills schedule. Home base was the Church of the Annunciation, located about 20 minutes from the dwelling they were working on. It is available to house groups doing volunteer work like the Minuteman. The accommodations were spartan – bunk beds, showers, simple, nutritious meals cooked by a chef – but they were greatly appreciated by the group. They would typically be on site for their day’s work by 8:30 a.m., stay until late afternoon, then head back to the church for the night’s activities.

Evenings would be set aside for presentations by the students, who had researched various aspects of the region in order to put their experience in perspective and context. Their topics, said Ms. Roche, included Mardi Gras, plantations, local cuisine, just to mention a few.

Another item on their agenda was watching filmmaker Spike Lee’s landmark 2006 documentary, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” which spotlighted the reactions of New Orleans’ citizens to what they perceived as the failure of government at every level to prevent the catastrophic flooding of their city following Katrina. The students discussed what they saw, and they also kept journals chronicling their week-long adventure.

At the conclusion of the trip, each student had an exit interview to review the highlights and challenges of the week and the impact it had on them. The results were enlightening. The students, said Ms. Roche, came to understand that “we’re all in this together and we all help each other.” They were also asked to come up with a one-word description of their stay in New Orleans. The words they offered included “blessing,” “effective,” “patience,” “empathy,” “community” and “growth.”

They’ll keep the good deeds going back at Minuteman. Ideas that have been floated include fundraising for The St. Bernard Project and being ambassadors for it.

Ms. Roche savored every day just as much as the students did. In fact, she said the kids affectionately called her “Mama Roche.”

“I loved that,” she observed. “I would do it all over again. When you work with students who really want to make a difference, it’s amazing.”

Minuteman was established in the 1970s as one of more than two dozen regional-vocational technical high schools in Massachusetts. Over the years, the school has built a reputation for excellence. Minuteman students consistently excel on the larger stage and have won numerous awards at state and national competitions. Minuteman challenges all students to revolutionize their high school expectations by aspiring to their full potential, accelerating their learning, and achieving success in the 21st-century global community.