By Leslie Fuentes
Humble ISD Public Communications
Students at Kingwood Park High School celebrated the completion of their seventh Tiny Home as part of the program, “Students Helping Veterans: Big Heroes, Tiny Homes” with a home completion ceremony on Tuesday, May 7.
The program teaches students the importance of service and giving back to their community. Each of the tiny homes designed and built by Humble ISD students through the program are donated to a veteran in need.
“Not only does this project help our veterans out, but it has a tremendous impact on our students,” Humble ISD Project Manager Lisa Drabing said. “They have the opportunity to design and build a tiny home, and they’re developing their problem-solving, decision-making, communication, collaboration and leadership skills.”
Kingwood Park’s latest tiny home is a maroon modern cabin that measures 296 square feet and features a bathroom, bedroom, living space and a unique inverted butterfly roof.
Kingwood Park High School senior Andrew Hennings served as the lead architect and designer for Kingwood Park’s seventh home. During the completion ceremony, Hennings expressed his gratitude to his team for their “leadership, great listening skills and for giving it their all.”
Kingwood Park High School seniors Nolan Krueger and Carmen Ramirez served as this year’s construction captains for the project, and senior Madelyn Glenn served as the interior design captain.
This school year was the first time the students designed an inverted roof, challenging Hennings to utilize his math skills to determine the precise angles that were needed for the roof’s support.
“It was a complicated task,” Hennings said about leading this year’s project. “But as we worked on the project, we grew together as a group. All my team members were easy to work with and did a great job leading the project, so it was overall a very fun experience.”
Students began planning the construction of their tiny home during the summer of 2023. Construction of the seventh home began at the beginning of the school year in August and was completed in mid-April.
Kingwood Park architecture and engineering teacher Missi Taylor oversees the students’ work on the homes. Every year, she challenges her students to think outside the box and try something different.
“Every time we produce a home, meeting deadlines and being self responsible for generating a quality product are super important to me,” Taylor said. “Watching them learn and go through this experience makes me tear up when we get to the end of it.”
A partnership with Operation Finally Home and the Lowe’s Foundation, as well as donations from members of the community, provided the students with resources and building materials for construction of the new home.
Now, students are redirecting their focus to next year’s tiny home. During Tuesday’s ceremony, this year’s student lead architect and captains passed each of their project roles on to a different student for the following year.
KPHS Junior Hogan Anderson will serve as next year’s lead architect and designer. Next year’s home will be 322 square feet with an offset gable roof and a mediterranean interior.