Area students compete in industrial technology fair

A Van Buren High School student won 'best of show' plus a scholarship for crafting a hutch out of a dead walnut tree.

Justin Warren was favored by the judges out of 239 projects in 33 categories, predominantly woodwork, submitted from 11 area high schools during the 62nd annual Southeast District Technical Education Association of Missouri Industrial Technology Fair held at Three Rivers Community College on Wednesday.

A senior, Warren is a second generation pupil that studied under the legendary Keller Roberson, who has been teaching shop in Van Buren since 1968.

"Walnut costs too much," said Roberson, adding that most students choose oak. "A tree is all it takes and some effort to get it done."

The tree was cut down and retrieved with a boom loader from a neighbor's yard last spring and then dried out through the summer before the student began to shape it, he explained.

The design used was created by Roberson decades ago, in which material from a Caterpillar oil filter was patterned on the windows of the overhead cupboards. Roberson is "the very best," Warren stated.

Warren's father, Randy Warren, constructed a similar hutch back when he was a Van Buren student in 1981, qualifying him to go on to the state competition.

"I have a lot of good furniture at home on account of Mr. Roberson," Randy Warren said. "When he [teaches] you how to do something, it stays with you."

A career sawmill worker, Randy Warren said Roberson had a major influence on his life.

Randy Warren's son plans to earn an associate of applied science degree in forestry technology at Three Rivers with his tuition money that he won. After graduating, Justin Warren said he would like to work for the Missouri Department of Conservation or the National Forest Service.

"I have grown up in these Carter County hills and worked the woods with my father," Justin Warren wrote in the essay portion of his scholarship application. "We have cut firewood, blocks and logs from the hills and hunted them through most every wildlife season."

Roberson said Justin Warren would have no problem having a career in cabinetry if he so desired. The teenager has built four solid projects throughout his high school career, he said.

"I wish [the students] were all as hard working as he is," Roberson said. "This young man flat deserves [the victory]."

Going on 44 years of teaching, Roberson said he hopes the industrial technology program at Van Buren survives budget cuts schools are currently facing. If Roberson has his way, he has handpicked a successor who is a former student and a past winner of the state TEAM competition.

The grand woods' award to be given out next week at the Lake of the Ozarks has been named in Keller Roberson's honor. From the contest in Poplar Bluff, 60 senior and 11 junior high students have qualified to go on to states.

Among the students, Dalton Sanders, another Van Buren senior, who won the Keller Roberson Award in 2009, is in the running again with his crystal china buffet made out of cherry. Unlike his classmate Justin Warren, Sanders said he put $2,500 into his project.

Whether students won a ribbon for best of their class or they made it on to the finals, Dr. Wes Payne, vice president for learning, said the work displayed in the Bess Activity Center was "just outstanding."