Deerfield USD 216 - Home of the Spartans

On Friday, March 24th, Deerfield Middle School and High School Student Councils went to Wichita to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity as a civic engagement project. Habitat for Humanity is a housing ministry that helps hard-working families own their own homes, providing them with safe affordable housing. The Wichita chapter of Habitat is revitalizing an entire neighborhood, with many new citizens from the Congo. Our young Deerfield leaders participated in a home dedication ceremony for a beautiful family, Paulo & Immaculee, along with their seven children and one grandchild. They then got to tour the new construction before moving on to the warehouse. James Jaeger, ReStore Director, talked with our students about the importance of the ReStore in the process of keeping construction costs down while still providing quality construction materials and appliances. Danielle Johnson, Executive Director for Habitat, gave a polished and insightful presentation on the importance of advocacy in civic engagement. Shawna, Kansas Homes State Director, taught the students about the process required for people to move from a homeless status to owning their own homes. Our student council members donated a couple of hours of volunteer work by painting close to 100 corner blocks for new construction. We want to thank Kathy Lefler for so generously hosting our school, as the experience was top quality.