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Since the 2016-17 school year, the Hill Country Builders Association's Wine Country Division has teamed up with Fredericksburg High School to foster a passion of building trades in students through a program that gives them hands-on experience by building a concept home each year.

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Students are given the opportunity to garner on-the-job knowledge by working closely with local builders, trade partners and suppliers while earning school credit. This prepares students who wish to enter the workforce after high school while giving contractors leads to potential employees.

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Each year, the program produces a one-bedroom concept home — complete with a living area, kitchen, dining area, bath, closet and laundry space — from the ground up right on campus. For eight months, local builders donate their time to work with diligent students to have the home ready to be auctioned off in the spring. All proceeds are applied to funding the next year's concept home.

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While program implementation was targeted at revitalizing the flounding trade curriculum at the high school, it quickly turned into a way to restore pride in the building trade profession, making it a sought-after model at many other schools.