Juneau excessive schoolers journey to Hawaii to assist rebuild houses destroyed by Lahaina wildfires

Ten Juneau highschool college students gained real-world home-building expertise — and a few much-needed Vitamin D — earlier this month throughout a college district journey to Maui, Hawaii. 

Students spent a number of days rebuilding houses destroyed by the wildfires that devastated the town of Lahaina in 2023. The Juneau School District’s House Build program teaches hands-on construction skills by building new, energy-efficient homes in Juneau. Students enrolled in the program are eligible to join the annual Habitat for Humanity build trip in Hawaii. 

Jace Kihlmire is a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and a House Build participant. Kihlmire said this year was his second trip with the program. 

“I feel like it has a positive impact, because you’re learning, but also it’s always nice and it feels fulfilling to know that you were helping a community or helping someone out, which can have a positive effect on your mental state,” he said. 

Andy Bullick teaches the program and has brought dozens of students on the trip over the past decade. He said the homes the students worked on this year were originally built by other Juneau students in 2019 and 2020. However, those homes burned down during the 2023 wildfires that devastated the region. 

Bullick said though the opportunity came from tragedy, he and the students had a great time rebuilding the homes and connecting with the community. 

“The bigger deal, is just the inspiration for these kids to go somewhere cool, to meet new people, to see different cultures, to go on a really amazing trip and to meet people,” he said. “To understand the need for affordable housing for people, and then to be able to actively help address that need while having a good time.”

The students helped hang drywall and install siding. But in their free time, the students hit the beach to snorkel and took a whale watching trip. The students returned to Juneau before recent storms hit Hawaii, causing historic flooding in elements of the islands. Bullick mentioned the houses they labored on aren’t being impacted.