Technical students build Ettrick home

ETTRICK — A handful of residents receiving aid from Chesterfield County’s Mental Health and Support Services will have a brand new home to move into this summer thanks to the 180 high schoolers at the Chesterfield Career and Technical Center Courthouse campus who constructed a five-bedroom house over a two-year period.

The house, which is located at 19801 Woodpecker Road in Ettrick, is the third of its kind. The Build-A-House project was started in 2008 as a way for technical students to get a hands-on experience in their trades. The first house was built along Church Road and finished in 2010. The second house was built on Cogbill Road two years later.

“Over the course of these three homes, we’ve had over 800 Chesterfield County technical construction students working on the houses, having the opportunity to apply real world exercise to their classroom instruction,” said Dr. Colleen Bryant, principal of the Chesterfield Career and Technical Center’s Courthouse campus. “Most of these students in their second year at the technical center are employed by local construction businesses.”

The high school seniors worked in the fields of carpentry, HVAC, electricity, plumbing, landscaping and CISCO data, or the network wiring of the house for cable and Internet. The students did most of the work, except the roof for safety reasons.

The houses are built for those with long-term disabilities. Chesterfield Alternatives, a nonprofit organization, funded the building materials and contracted with the Chesterfield County Public Schools to build the home. Chesterfield Alternatives then leases the home to clients of the county’s Mental Health Support Services as a group home for an affordable price.

“This is an example of what can happen when people come together to meet the needs of our community,” said James “Jay” Stegmaier, Chesterfield County Administrator. “It’s a shining example of the pride we all share of Chesterfield County and a great example of what happens when government organizations partner with those in the private sector to address those needs.”

Thomas J. Doland, Matoaca District School Board member, praised the students for their hard work and contribution to the community.

“All of you who participated in this should be very proud because the excellence of the construction, but also the preparation you’re going to have to go out into the world,” Doland said. “I know for a fact that the people who are going to live here fully appreciate the time and effort you put in.

Daniel Martinez and Jamie Lafoon are two students at the Chesterfield Career and Technical Center who worked on the house. Martinez, who is studying electricity, found the experience very rewarding.
“We saw it from the foundation and we built it up,” he said. “It was a great honor of ours to be standing here seeing the finished work, which is very beautiful.”

His classmate Jamie, a carpentry student, agreed, saying “When we arrived here as first year students, we stepped off the bus onto a concrete block foundation. I would have never imagined that it would have looked the way it does today.”

Daniel said he learned the basics of electricity as well as leadership skills that he plans to take with him into the workforce.

“It showed me that I want to pursue electricity in the future,” Daniel said. “It’s amazing just to see what it goes towards, it humbled my heart to be able to do something like this.”

For the students, a price tag couldn’t be put on the experience.

“I came into the program not knowing as much as the next guy, but I’m leaving here framing walls, installing doors, windows and trim,” Daniel said.

The residents will move into their new home in August.

“We didn’t just finish a house,” Jamie said. “We made a home.”