What makes a house a home? Do we really need all the stuff we think we need? And let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of it: Can we go smaller and attain greater satisfaction?

“Edna (English teacher Edna Valdepeñas P’15,’18,’19,’24) and I have been on this idea of tiny homes for a very long time,” said George School art and religions teacher Susan Ross P’25. “Our conversations always go to yurts and camping and building houses and the idea of intentional living — so much so that every time we sit at the dining hall table, either people sit with us … or don’t, because they knew where the conversation is going to go,” she laughed. 

In 2023, Susan and Edna gave their enthusiasm for tiny homes and intentional living a name (“Living Large: Spiritual Design in Small-Space Living”) and created a course (their shorthand for it is the “Tiny House class”) that includes classroom work and, every other year, fieldwork in New Orleans. The course challenges 11th and 12th graders to examine societal norms that call for mindless excess … and recognize their agency to make other choices. 

“For me, it’s about teaching students that we don’t have to jump on the rat wheel of buying the 3,000-square-foot home and working crazily to afford what our society expects us to,” said Susan.

The course’s capstone project is to design a small house and qualify each decision made. Students are given strict parameters — only 450 square feet of living space — along with a 9 x 12” sketchbook and templates to follow. Over the course of the term, they create mood boards and lay out interior plans at 1/4-1” scale, “just like architects use,” said Susan. 

“Being radical in the square footage forces students to make choices: What are their must-haves, what are their nice-to-haves and what can they live without,” said Edna. Often students will insist, “‘Well, I need my two-car garage,’ she continued. “Why? Let’s talk through what that means.” 

In the classroom, students also delve into literature that builds "an understanding of the philosophical drivers, architectural design concepts and spiritual significance of the space we call home,” according to the course description. 

They also incorporate regional texts to prepare for their trip. “This year, we read Natalie Baszile’s ‘Queen Sugar,'" said Edna. "It has a lot of cultural references. When we got to New Orleans, they said, ‘Oh, this is in the novel!’” 

This past January, coursework moved to New Orleans’ hardest hit areas. There, students worked with service organizations to repair or rebuild homes that were badly hit during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, or in subsequent storms.

The group is prepared to meet teams where they are. “We’ve done new construction with Habitat for Humanity; with Rebuilding Together and lowernine — it’s more remediation: painting, caulking, taking off and putting on roofs,” said Edna.
At this point, course reading and house design met sleeves-rolled-up reality, and it was an opportunity to view all within the lens of the Quaker Testimonies. 

“We ask students, how does this work connect to the values of simplicity, integrity, unity, equality, peace?” said Edna. “It’s not just about going down and building something. It’s a way of understanding our relationship to our stuff and to the space we call home.” 

"It’s a blessing that our students have a heightened capacity for joy, ready to counter the despair they often witnessed as they worked. Moreover, New Orleans habitually thumbs its nose at defeat and chooses optimism."

“That’s New Orleans,” said Susan. “When you think about a jazz funeral, and someone passes away, it’s somber music. And then, it becomes a celebration of life and the music changes. That is the epitome of New Orleans.”

“I just got goosebumps,” smiled Edna.

“The students also developed a sense of inner strength,” said Susan. “They picked up power tools, many for the first time, and soon were able to say, “I can do it now.”” 

“Education is empowerment. And we’re giving them a different kind of education,” Susan said. 

“... with literally different tools,” added Edna.

If Susan and Edna were to describe the course as a house, what would serve as its base? 

“The foundation can’t hold without being open and being receptive to thinking differently,” said Edna. “If the students don’t allow themselves to imagine other possibilities, it won’t stick.” 

“We talk about open hearts and open minds,” said Susan. “It is walking through this world with that attitude — to be able to receive the joy.”