This year seniors are participating in New Trier’s 16th Habitat for Humanity project, raising money to build a house for a deserving family.
Habitat for Humanity is organized by a senior board of representatives and paid for with money raised by the current senior class.
Seniors are broken into a board and six student leaders. The board attends monthly meetings and informs their adviseries on upcoming events. Brendan Loftus, a member of this year’s board said, “My job is to get my advisery excited about the project.”
The senior leaders work directly with senior adviser chairs and help run the board meetings. There are six student leaders chosen by the senior adviser chairs Chris Pearson and Susan Paunen, who do a variety of tasks.
Student leader Regina Madanguit said, “As a member of the board, I speak to parents and the adviser chairs about fundraising ideas. We have a lot of ideas from the past that we look to improve upon so that we can raise more money and have an even better year than before. I have to sign lots of documents and use my skills in public speaking to inform the board of our plans.”
“Habitat for Humanity is a global non-profit focused on providing safe and affordable housing,” said Pearson. “The advisery representatives are great; we hear positive things from advisers about our representatives.”
The house will be built in Waukegan in North Chicago. Adviseries volunteer to work onsite throughout second semester, which helps students feel connected to the project.
The senior class puts in a lot of work to raise money. “This year we have already done a lot to raise money and we have a lot more planned. We did spirit sales at parent-teacher conferences, hosted the Tom DeLuca show, held Feast Week, and had a Sarki’s breakfast sale,” said Paunan. “Coming up we have another Sarki’s breakfast sale, the April auction, more souvenir sales, and Winter Carnival.”
The Tom DeLuca show is popular among seniors and many attend. Seniors have the opportunity to be hypnotized by DeLuca, or simply watch and enjoy the show.
This year’s Feast Week restaurants were Noodles and Company, Shake Shack, Bake425, Chipotle, and Potbelly Sandwich Shop.
Winter Carnival is an event hosted by the senior adviseries. Each advisery has a unique booth, anything from selling hot dogs to staging weddings. The carnival features a wide variety of games, inflatables, sports, crafts, and more. Admission is free and the money raised from games or food benefit Habitat.
Pearson said, “Habitat for Humanity is a way that the senior class can connect with a common and significant goal in mind. All the seniors can leave their own legacy as a class and impact the community.”