Canyon Charter School Builds A House Monday:

ships it to gulf coast TuesdayOver two hundred volunteers – students, teachers, parents and friends of Canyon Charter school – turned carpenters for a day to build A 30X38foot three-bedroom house, which was promptly disassembled and shipped to Florida by Habitat for Humanity. The house will be the new home of a family whose previous home was destroyed by the hurricanes.The Canyon School, on Entrada in Santa Monica Canyon, is thought to be the oldest public school in Los Angeles, and it is the first elementary school in the United States to participate in the international Habitat for Humanity program.According to the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association News, “The project grew out of student, staff and parent concern for the victims of Hurricanes Kartrina and Wilma. The entire school community worked diligently to come up with a project to aid these families. In November, the Governing Board approved a partnership with Habitat for Humanity.”Supplies were delivered to the campus last Friday. The platform for the house was built on Saturday, and Monday the house itself was constructed. It was then disassembled and shipped to the Gulf Coast yesterday. All Habitat for Humanity houses sent to the Louisiana and Florida areas are built in the same assemble-disassemble way.A curriculum component for the unusual project developed by Canyon staff included both writing and math assignments. Students participated in various activities to collect donations for the house, including creation of note cards featuring the historic Canyon library and selling them for holiday gifts.Photos by Margaret Molloy