SHS Students Build Homes in Mississippi

Twenty-two Scarsdale High School seniors and four SHS teachers travelled to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on June 14 to help build homes for those in need. This was the fifth year of the trip – a tradition that began when Scarsdale adopted the Bay St. Louis –Waveland School District after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. Initially, Scarsdale residents came together in the wake of the storm and held a benefit to provide funds to Bay St. Louis residents. In the spring of 2006 a delegation from Bay St. Louis came to visit Scarsdale and in June, 2006 the first group of Scarsdale high school seniors travelled to Mississippi to volunteer.

This year fourteen girls, eight boys and four teachers flew down to work with Habitat for Humanity on home construction. The chaperones were SHS teachers Mr. Borgia, Mr. Caie, Mrs. LaSalle and Mrs. Celentano who lead the trip and worked alongside the students. The group left Scarsdale at 5:30 am on Monday June 14 to begin their trip on a flight to New Orleans. They were met at the airport by vans and stopped in New Orleans for a lunch of beignets at the Café DuMonde and to explore the French Quarter.  They also toured the lower 9th ward of New Orleans and were surprised that five years after the storm little has been done. They saw houses in ruins, garbage and neglect and were surprised at the poverty.

The group then boarded the vans for Mississippi, where they moved into the Mission on the Bay, run by Lutheran Episcopal Services. Also in residence at the mission were groups of volunteers from all over the country as well as individuals who came on their own to help. Housed in bunks the kids shared shelter, meals, card games and the rewarding experience of learning to construct homes.

Each day, they rose at 6:30 am, were fed breakfast in the mission cafeteria and then packed their own lunches. The first day the group was taken to a house that was almost completed to do some of the finishing work. Under the supervision of the staff of Habitat for Humanity the kids quickly learned to caulk, prime and paint the exterior and the interior and to build a shed. On Day Two, the group was taken to a workshop where they prepared elements of the homes they would construct in the following days. They cut wood and wires and hammered frames, honing their carpentry skills in preparation for the build.

On Day Three, they loaded the heavy pre-built frames into trucks and were transported to a site where Habitat for Humanity is building 40 new homes. For the next few days, the students worked at the site, building the homes. They installed a sub-floor and built a porch. It was very hot and buggy and some got sunburned, suffered from heat rashes and bug bites. However, the students enjoyed the work, knowing that they were helping to provide shelter for the homeless.

Though many of the students did not know each other before the trip, the group quickly bonded and got along well.

In the words of SHS Senior Jessie Gatof, “The trip was very valuable because all of the students on the trip were there because we wanted to be… not because we could write it on our college applications. It really felt like we were helping. I spent one whole day installing a wood floor in a house and thought of the family who would live there. “  According to Allie Ellman, also a senior at SHS, "The trip was such an amazing experience, not only because we helped build homes for those who had lost theirs but also because we bonded as a group. Now that we are back in Scarsdale, we will always remember working together and share that experience."

In a recent speech given at Scarsdale High School, Nicholas Kristof said that those who engage in public service become the beneficiaries, as helping others can be a source of personal fulfillment. These students and teachers demonstrated how serving those in need could be deeply gratifying as well.

Read testimonials about past trips from Scarsdale students here:

This article was based on information supplied by SHS senior, Jessie Gatof.