At only 192 square feet, the small white house will serve as a “new start” for a Fullerton School District student and their family — and it was built by their peers.
At Nicolas Junior High in Fullerton, 22 eighth-graders spent the year designing and building a tiny house in a woodshop class. The house, unveiled on Tuesday, May 21, is fully furnished, complete with a kitchen, bathroom and living space.
The students’ creation will be placed on a small strip of land located on the Orangethorpe Elementary School campus, and a district student and their family will be allowed to reside temporarily in the home.
“This wasn’t just another school project; it was a way for us to do something good for someone else,” student Izzy Tapia said. “It’s not just about wood and nails — it’s about giving someone a new start, showing that even kids like us can make a big difference.”
The tiny home will serve as a temporary residence for a chosen Fullerton School District student and their family who are receiving assistance from the district under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law meant to support the education of homeless students. The district has more than 190 unhoused families, said Jeremy Davis, the district’s assistant superintendent of innovation and instructional support.
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The district will now work with its partners at local nonprofit Pathways of Hope to identify a family in need to provide a six-month stay in this temporary tiny home, Fullerton School District’s Director of Social Emotional Learning and Family Supports Rossana Fonseca said.
“We recognize that selecting a family for the Tiny House Project is a sensitive process and are seeking a family that demonstrates a strong commitment to education through consistent school attendance and is actively participating in the journey toward self-sufficiency,” Fonseca said.
“By providing a safe and secure space to call home, the much-needed stability this home will provide allows a family to focus on other aspects of their lives, such as finding employment or pursuing education, without the constant worry of where they will sleep at night,” Fonseca said.
Through this project, woodshop teacher Mucio Vidales said he has seen “great leadership among the students.”
“(We) quickly learned which students we could turn to inspire the rest of the group to get to work and who we could rely on to have the most accurate measurements and who could get nice, clean cuts,” Vidales said. “Everyone took responsibility for their work and it was amazing to see.”
Fullerton School Board President Leonel Talavera said a “great impact” is made when “community members and partners come together to support each other.”
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“It’s really amazing to see how our community has come together to celebrate something our school district does really well, and that’s innovation,” Talavera said. “The lasting impact this tiny home will have goes beyond our community.”
Next school year, another group of eighth graders at Nicolas will build another tiny home for a family in the district, Davis said.
“The ripple effect (this project) is going to have as the students in this class move on to high school and for the next students in Mr. Vidales’s class who work on the next potential tiny home will continue to make our community a better place,” Talavera said.
The funding for this project was provided by local support, including grants from nonprofits Fullerton Education Foundation and Wilson W. Phelps Foundation. Additional support came from the Hope Center of Orange County, community group Orange County United, public relations firm Idea Hall, Pathways of Hope and Ganahl Lumber.
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