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Maine East students build frame of a house to help family

Posted May 02, 2015 7:00 am

Daily Herald report

Sheena Perez, left, her daughter Alexi Perez, 13, daughter Sophie, 9 months, and fiancÃ© Juan Carlos Ramirez look around at the skeleton of their new house. The house will be delivered to Elgin in May, and the family could be able to move in as early as July 31. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com

The Geometry Construction class at Maine East High School partnered this year with the Northern Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity chapter to help build a home for a deserving local family.

This week, students — working under the guidance of professionals — completed the framing of the house, and the Perez family of Elgin got to see the skeleton of their new home.

The home will be disassembled after Friday's open house, and on May 20-23, the pieces will be shipped to the site of the home's foundation in Elgin. It should be move-in ready by mid-July.

Aside from the work by Maine East students, Johnathan Bendewald of Wheeling already has donated $1,600 for windows for the home and is planning to raise more. To get the money, he's going on a 1,000-mile bike ride through Wisconsin and Minnesota this summer, performing magic shows for entertainment on the way. He did some card tricks at Friday's event.

Alex Garcia, a sophomore at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, signs a note on one of the studs in the house that he and the Geometry Construction class helped build. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com

Sheena Perez of Elgin shows her son, Jaeden, 6, one of the notes left by students in their new house. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com

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