Integrity is one of the four core values at Avon Old Farms School. It reminds our boys that they have a part to play in making the world around them a better place. Several students illustrated integrity when they chose to spend their March break in Guatemala building houses for those in need.

Twelve students, ranging from senior to freshman, arrived in Guatemala on Saturday, March 14, alongside teachers Dr. Tim Watt, Jen Moyer, and Katharine Montalbano. They began with a hike up Pacaya—an active volcano. From then on, it was less sight-seeing and more hard work.

The group of volunteers joined a construction crew from the organization From Houses to Homes in Santa María de Jesús, a town in southern Guatemala, where over the course of a week they built two fully-habitable houses, starting with pouring a foundation on Monday to painting the interior on Friday. The final step is a small ceremony where Avon students will present a set of keys to the new homeowners.

“Building the home is a meaningful and transformative step, but many of these homes begin without essentials such as a stove for cooking, beds to sleep in, or a water filtration system,” Montalbano, who organized the trip, explains. “In an effort to leave these families better positioned to thrive—and to involve the broader AOF community in this service—we held a few fundraisers including a dress-down day, as well as by selling concessions during Avon Youth Hockey Day on February 25th.”