Del Campo students build pig sheds for sanctuary through Design Build Competition

Del Campo High School students put their classroom skills to the test at the 40th annual Design Build Competition by constructing custom pig sheds that were later donated to a nearby animal sanctuary.

The event, hosted by the Construction Industry Education Foundation (CIEF), brings together high school teams from across the region to design and build a structure while meeting strict industry standards.

“Projects like these do a great job of making it feel like a real jobsite and creating the stressors you see in real life,” said Samuel Baeder, who teaches Career Technical Education (CTE) Construction Technology at Del Campo.

Students faced summer heat, heavy materials and the pressure of working under professional timelines. Baeder added that projects like this also help students strengthen social skills as they collaborate with peers they may not know well.

“We had teams of people who were slightly more advanced, but we worked together to help them get the hang of it real quick,” said S, a 12th-grade student. “It was fun and tiring. You had to keep your hat on the whole time and it was super sweaty, but it makes sense.”

Hayden, also a 12th-grade student, said he’s had some construction experience, but appreciated the chance to work on a project that wasn’t focused on electrical work.

“It was fun. I’m kind of used to it already because my uncle runs a shop,” he said. “But it was nice to know that these sheds are actually going to animals in need.”

S added that knowing their work would provide shelter for animals motivated the team more than the competition itself.

“The entire time we knew these were going to be donated, so we weren’t really trying to win the competition. We were more focused on this being available for the pigs that were going to use it,” S said. 

Although Del Campo’s team was not able to finish everything they wanted during the competition, Baeder said they brought the structures back to campus to complete them before delivering them to Only Sunshine Sanctuary.

Both Hayden and S said the project affirmed their future career goals.

“This project helped to harden my perspective on going into construction. I think that path would be better for me,” S said.

“I already had a good idea of what I wanted to do before this, but this project kept me on that full course all the way down,” Hayden said.