Student architects from Summer Creek High School celebrated the completion of their 5th tiny home through the “Big Heroes, Tiny Homes” program with a completion ceremony on Friday, May 17.
The Tiny Homes Program was brought into Humble ISD high schools in 2017. Through a partnership with Operation Finally Home, Lowe’s and the Greater Houston Builders Association since 2021, students have received additional support to design and build homes for veterans every year.
Through their participation in the Tiny Homes program, high school students learn soft skills such as problem solving, leadership, communication and active listening. They also learn new architecture skills as they design and construct a tiny house for a veteran in need.
“Students build these homes from the ground up every year,” Summer Creek High School Principal Dr. Matthew Mahony said. “It’s the ultimate act of service. It shows how much our students give, how dedicated they are and how involved they are in service projects.”
Summer Creek’s latest tiny home is a black, modern farm-style house that features an open floor plan, a metal roof that measures three different heights, a beautiful sliding glass door for the closet and black, brown and gray colors for the interior. This home is the first to feature both a front and back door.
Summer Creek High School senior Kaelyn Torres, served as the lead architect and designer for the campus’ fifth tiny home.
In her speech, Torres commended her build team for their team work, time management and for loving the “Big Heroes, Tiny Homes” Program. She mentioned how the team considered a variety of construction factors “to ensure that tiny house number five brought comfort to whoever lived in it.”
Jack Garcia served as the Architecture Committee president this school year. Gabriela Rivera led the team this year as the project manager.
“Not only have I come to understand the impact of the ‘Big Heroes, Tiny Homes’ Program, but I am also learning how to build homes, from the piece of wood to doing the electrical wiring, painting the home and everything in between,” Torres said.
Summer Creek Architecture and Engineering teacher Isaac Martinez stepped into his role in the middle of the school year and oversaw the student’s work on this year’s tiny home project. Martinez said that this school year he witnessed “perseverance, an incredible amount of courage and a willingness to take risks from every student on the build team”
“The mission of the Tiny House program is to empower students to design and construct a place for a military veteran to call home,” Martinez said. “As the teacher, I am proud to say that they, indeed, have accomplished that mission. Every part of this house was constructed with great care, knowing that someday this home will go to a veteran.”
During the ceremony, Torres passed on the “golden ruler” to Angelina Casanova, the lead architect and designer for Summer Creek’s sixth tiny home. Nathan Percival was named the next Architecture Committee president, and Samantha Rogers will serve as the next project manager. Tiny home number six will be constructed during the 2024-2025 school year.