A steady thrum of clanking, nailing and buzzing fills the air behind the Construction Careers Academy, a magnet high school on the North West side of town for students pursuing the building arts.

Wearing hard hats and tool belts, two dozen seniors are building two tiny homes, the usual projects for the school’s upperclassmen. One of the houses is getting special attention — once it’s built, the home will go to a military veteran from San Antonio.

School officials dubbed the project “Home for a Hero.”

“We put all of our like emotions and pride into this house to make that veteran’s dream come true,” Aliyah Ocampo, a 17-year-old senior at CCA, said. Before being interviewed, Ocampo was working on the sidings of the tiny home.

Ocampo has been at CCA all four yours of high school. She plans to study criminology or criminal justice in college, but she enrolled there because she wants to help her parents with repairs around their home.

“I just recently helped my mom when it came to plumbing and fixing the walls,” she said. “Instead of hiring a plumber an electrician that costs like $1,000 or $100, I plan to use my construction knowledge to build or fix my own house.”

At CCA, a school with an enrollment of about 500, students take introductory construction courses and then pick one or more of several industry paths: plumbing, electrical work, architecture, engineering, construction management or carpentry. It’s one of several magnet school offerings inside Northside Independent School District.

The academy sits on the Wagner High School campus where construction students take their core classes. CCA offers several industry-based certifications: OSHA 10, NCCER Core, NCCER Level 1 and 2 in Plumbing, Electrical and Carpentry, AutoCAD, Revit and Land Surveying

Jason Paul, a construction management teacher, quietly watched as his students buzzed around the work site. His approach is very hands-off.

“I just turn them loose, and I really don’t have to do much, other than they just come and find me for questions,” Paul said. “They’re very highly motivated. I usually have to beg them to stop working at the end of the day, which is very unlike most classes.”

Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Construction management teacher Jason Paul, right, and Construction Careers Academy senior Johnathan Suarez measure where material needs to be cut for wall outlets during class on Oct. 24. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

His senior class has been working on two homes, one of them for a veteran, since they were juniors. The donated veteran home is one of the largest builds CCA students have taken on.

It sits on a 64-foot chassis, but students usually build tiny homes on 24-foot trailers. Paul has affectionally nicknamed project as the M.O.A.B, the Mother of All Builds.

“Home for a Hero” is a completely donation-based project, said CCA programs coordinator Lesford Dixon, the mastermind behind the project.

Last year, Dixon reached out to the American GI Forum, a statewide organization that helps veterans with workforce development and housing, offering to donate one of the school’s tiny homes for a veteran to live in.

Dixon also convinced several local businesses to donate the materials used to build the home. The chassis, for example, was donated by Alamo Transport.

Since students started on the project during the 2024-25 school year, they’ve framed the house and installed electrical wiring and plumbing. Now, students are focusing on the house’s interior.

The 970-square-foot home features two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, living room space and three mini-split air conditioning units. Dixon makes sure everything is up to code and works closely with the city on permits.

All of the CCA tiny homes, Dixon said, are made with the best building materials and modern appliances. Normally, the school puts the homes up for sale at the end of the school year to cover the cost of student materials. CCA is currently selling a converted school bus home and brown wooden tiny home.

“Home for a Hero,” however, is an exception.

Sergio Dickerson, CEO and president of American GI Forum, said he can remember attending the groundbreaking for this project one year ago. At that time, it was just a wooden base. Walking through the work site as students hammered about and a DeWalt radio played country and ranchera music, — he couldn’t help but be impressed.

Construction Careers Academy students carry building material into a home they are working on. The home will be outfitted with a bedroom, restroom, kitchen and laundry areas and even a loft. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

“I didn’t think it was gonna look like that,” he said.

Most of the veterans Dickerson works with are either underserved or without homes. His team will be choosing one “worthy” veteran, currently housed by American GI Forum, to donate the student-built house to. The veteran will have to meet a few criteria, Dicker said.

They will be responsible for the home’s upkeep, property taxes and will be responsible for the land it will eventually sit on. The vet should also have the ability to pay for utilities.

“It’s very exciting to know that a veteran’s mouth is going to drop when they see where they’re going to live,” he said.

CCA students have a May 9 deadline on the “Home for a Hero.” Dixon is confident his students will have it done by then.

“The kids’ level — they just rise to the occasion,” he said.