John Cooper School partners with Habitat for Humanity to build lives and homes

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Recently, dozens of people showed up bright and early at the John Cooper School in The Woodlands with a single goal: to help build homes for people in need. Students and their parents, school personnel, concerned citizens, and members of Habitat for Humanity strapped on their tool belts and donned their hard hats and spent hours under the blazing sun building walls that will soon be fashioned into homes for families in need. The event was part of the Build Hope program.

Debra Richmond, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Habitat for Humanity, was excited at the turnout. We’re here today to build walls; this is John Cooper School’s 24th year in partnering with Habitat for Humanity, and the 23rd house they’ll have helped construct for our Cedar Creek community in Conroe,” she said. “After the walls are completed today, in a few weeks the students of John Cooper School will have their Build Day on our Conroe site. We’ll actually and literally raise the walls there, and from there they’ll work through the progression of building an entire house.”

Samir Muhith, a fifth grade teacher at JCS and faculty sponsor of the Habitat Project, was proud of his students and their families. “We have 62 signed-up volunteers for the day, and that includes parents and students,” he said. “Typically, the students can only be 16 and older when we go out to the site, but since Habitat for Humanity came out to our campus, we were able to get younger students aged 14 and up involved in this hammer build. But we also had parents of our younger students who came out on their own today because of their desire to help.” Two shifts of approximately 30 kids each participated.

The school’s original partnership with Habitat for Humanity was in 1999, formed as a student-initiated project. A group of upper students approached the administration and wanted to do a service project with Habitat, which originated the project.

“Obviously it’s changed a lot in the past 24 years, but it’s still a student-driven project,” said Muhith. “We have a steering committee of 15 students who are seniors and juniors selected on their participation and commitment. Some of them are manning our fundraising booth, many are wielding hammers today, and they’re all critical in organizing these efforts.” Beyond the builds, John Cooper School will raise between $35,000-40,000 for Habitat for Humanity.

Ms. Richmond stressed the need for such housing and what it takes to be considered for it. “Habitat for Humanity provides affordable housing, so we focus our efforts on those who fall between 30-60 percent of the median income of Montgomery County. It’s designed to be a safe and affordable home for these people that you see everyday – they can be your cashers, your janitors, even some teachers. They partner with us themselves and have to put in 300 hours of sweat equity into their home and go through Habitat College where they take classes on home ownership, repair, and safety, and financial literacy. They also have to qualify for our zero-percent interest mortgage so they can actually buy the house and pay back their loan.”

Ever proud of his students and faculty, Dr. Stephen Popp, Head of School, beamed at the turnout. “Service is not a requirement of The John Cooper School, but each weekend you can find our students volunteering and serving The Woodlands community. We are proud of the leadership and servant attitude our students have for the world around us.'

More information can be found at https://www.habitatmctx.org.