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14 | May 24, 2018 | The glenview lantern School<br />
glenviewlantern.com<br />
GBS students build house with Habitat for Humanity Lake County<br />
Submitted by Habitat for<br />
Humanity<br />
Glenbrook South partnered<br />
with Habitat for<br />
Humanity Lake County<br />
to provide an affordable<br />
house in Waukegan. On<br />
May 2, students raised<br />
the walls at 1425 McAree<br />
Road.<br />
Students in the high<br />
school’s geometry in construction<br />
class spent their<br />
school year building walls<br />
for the 1,200 square-foot<br />
ranch house. Teachers Dan<br />
Leipert and Brian Schmalzer<br />
initiated the program<br />
in the fall of 2016. After<br />
obtaining agreement from<br />
Habitat for Humanity and<br />
approval from school administration,<br />
they developed<br />
a construction workshop<br />
on school grounds.<br />
Thanks to donations<br />
from local suppliers<br />
— including Home Depot,<br />
Evanston Lumber,<br />
Paslode, GRK Fasteners,<br />
Simpson Strong-Tie and<br />
others — they outfitted the<br />
workshop with tools and<br />
equipment and obtained<br />
lumber for the walls.<br />
Students learned math<br />
throughout the yearlong<br />
class while planning to<br />
build a small mock-up<br />
house.<br />
Glenbrook South teachers Dan Leipert and Brian Schmalzer take a quick break from building a house with Habitat for Humanity on May 2 in<br />
Waukegan. PHOTOS SUBMITTED<br />
They built a floor as<br />
one of their first projects.<br />
In the second half of the<br />
school year, they built the<br />
walls, and Habitat for Humanity<br />
transported them to<br />
Waukegan.<br />
Future homeowner La-<br />
Tonya Stamps said, “I am<br />
so excited that I was there<br />
with these wonderful students<br />
when my walls went<br />
up. I have never built a<br />
house before and I am<br />
learning so much.”<br />
“I love working sideby-<br />
side with the students,”<br />
said Dan Leipert,<br />
construction and technology<br />
teacher at GBS. “We<br />
form good relationships<br />
based on trust, empowerment<br />
and respect for one<br />
another as we build. A<br />
construction class relies on<br />
great teamwork, the ability<br />
to delegate tasks and<br />
leading others. It’s also really<br />
rewarding to see how<br />
the math starts to resonate<br />
with the students as we<br />
start to build, adding authenticity<br />
and meaning to<br />
every lesson.”<br />
Brian Schmalzer, math<br />
teacher at Glenbrook<br />
South High School, said he<br />
likes to see that “lightbulb<br />
moment” when the students<br />
realize a geometric<br />
concept is not just something<br />
they do on a sheet of<br />
paper, but something they<br />
use with skill on a job site.<br />
“We want students to<br />
feel confident in their math<br />
and construction abilities,<br />
and understand the<br />
connectedness of the two<br />
fields,” Schmalzer said.<br />
Titans carry wood beams.<br />
The GBS students signed the foundation of the house.
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