WINNSBORO — When Fairfield County School District’s Career Center students set out to build a pavilion on the grounds of the Fairfield County School District’s Village in Winnsboro this spring, they weren’t simply learning construction skills. They were creating a place for teachers to gather, relax, and build friendships.
“This gift lends a lot to our mission of ‘teachers bonding with fellow teachers’ to encourage them to stay in the profession and mentor each other,” said Dr. Sue Rex, president of the Fairfield County Education Foundation. “Having a fun place to gather is what this gift from our students is all about.”
The 30-by-40-foot open-air pavilion now standing at the Village adjacent to the Fairfield County School District office is the result of more than a year’s planning and months of hands-on work by 27 students in the Career & Technology Center’s building construction program.
Under the direction of instructor Mark Ivey, students in three construction classes spent the spring framing the 1,200-square-foot structure, learning real-world building skills while giving back to their community.
“It was a new, unique experience for them,” Ivey said. “They had done some small-scale projects before, but nothing of this magnitude.”
The project began in the spring of 2025 when Rex approached Ivey about helping build a gathering place for teachers living in the Village.
“The Foundation’s members knew they wanted a pavilion,” Ivey said. “They wanted something for the residents to enjoy and have cookouts and gatherings, but they really didn’t know where to start.”
After meeting with Rex and foundation representatives at the site, Ivey created estimated budget.
“I gave them some preliminary sketches, photos of what it could possibly look like and a breakdown of the cost,” he said. “That gave them something they could take to their board and say, ‘This is what we want to do, this is our plan, and this is how much it’s going to cost.’”
The Education Foundation approved the project and began raising money through grants and donations.
Rex credited six major donors with making the pavilion possible: First Citizens, the Central Carolina Community Foundation, Dominion Energy Foundation, McGuinn Homes, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Fairfield Technology School.
McGuinn Homes, which built the Village, also donated the grading of the site and poured the concrete foundation at no cost, allowing more of the project’s budget to be spent on construction materials.
Once the slab was completed in late February, the students went to work.
Three construction classes, made up of students in grades 10 through 12, traveled by school bus from the classroom to the work site during their regular class periods. Each class picked up where the previous class had finished.
“We went over everything in class before we left,” Ivey said. He would tell them, “’This is your job today.”
That meant students had to communicate with one another and understand the sequence of construction.
“Just because you finished your part today didn’t mean that’s where you’d start tomorrow,” he said.
Among those working on the project were several female students who tackled the same jobs as their male classmates.
“I have several young ladies every semester,” Ivey said. “They got right up there and worked, absolutely, erecting scaffolding, installing beams, framing the structure and learning to raise 32-foot roof trusses entirely by hand.
“We did everything by hand,” Ivey said. “They had to learn to make sure everything was square, level and plumb before they got started.”
Every step became a lesson in precision, teamwork and problem solving.
Ivey said something else happened that he hadn’t planned.
“In every class there was one person who kind of stepped up and became a leader,” he said. “I didn’t assign that. They just took the initiative.
“I showed them how to do it. I made sure they were doing it correctly, but I didn’t do it for them.”
The students responded enthusiastically.
“The kids really enjoyed it,” he said. “They came in every day ready to go to work.”
By the end of the school year, the students had completed all of the framing and installed the roof trusses. With exams and end-of-year activities taking over the schedule, there wasn’t enough time to finish the entire project before summer break.
Rather than waiting until students returned in August, the Education Foundation asked McGuinn Homes to complete the roofing and remaining details.
The students may not have driven the last nail, but they still consider the pavilion their project.
“I’ve actually had a couple of them ride by there over the summer and send me pictures and text messages about the finished pavilion,” Ivey said. “They’re still excited.”
Although the building construction students have completed the framing, the project will remain a Career Technology Center effort. Rex said Fairfield Technology School’s electrical department will install the pavilion’s lights and ceiling fans, allowing students from another trade program to contribute.
For Ivey, who spent 20 years in the construction industry before becoming a teacher seven years ago, projects like this are exactly why career and technical education matters.
“I have a lot of kids who want to work with their hands,” he said. “They don’t just want to sit in a classroom.”
The success of the pavilion has already led to another request.
Rex has asked Ivey’s students to build a covered structure over the Village’s community mailbox area when classes resume this fall.
For the students, the pavilion shows that the skills they learn in the classroom can leave a lasting mark on their community – one that will bring the Village’s residents pleasure for years to come.