It was a bright sunny morning in November when six Poland Regional High School students stepped headed off to fulfill their community service requirement in a fun and productive way.

Along with their advisor, Maggie Bauer, and two parents, they went to the Black Point Inn in Scarborough to assist in a deconstruction project alongside a Habitat for Humanity crew.

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit organization that provides homes for families. The Portland branch alone has helped forty-one low-income families obtain decent and affordable housing.

Habitat’s work at the Black Point Inn had a different purpose. They were not building a house, but rather tearing down a hotel.

The Black Point Inn is currently undergoing a transformation. The older wing of the inn is being torn down in order to simplify the building and make way for new summer homes.

The Portland Habitat branch asked for all lighting fixtures, bathroom hardware, doors, hooks, shelves, hinges, windows and draperies to sell in their “ReStore” outlet on Bell Street in Portland.

The juniors’ job was to collect such items in any way necessary. They tore apart bathrooms, plucked nails from crown molding, and took down door after door.

“The most challenging part of the day was unscrewing all of the screws,” student Ali Hews says.

Adam Hadfield adds, “I liked taking the toilets out the best. It was hard at first, but fun once we knew how.”

The juniors worked alongside the Habitat volunteers with enthusiasm.

Advisor Maggie Bauer admired the students’ work. “I think that the kids all learned that they could do a lot of things that they never knew that could. Especially the girls, they got right down there and pulled hinges off doors,” she says.

“The best part was when we took all of the pictures and also how well we worked with each other and the volunteers,” student Lindsey Morse recalled.

“It was a lot of fun,” said James Jordan.

In all, they completed six of their fifteen hours of required community service, in what they agree was a worthwhile experience.