Huntington Educator Wins National Award For Skilled Trades Teachers 

Hugh Roberts, who teaches carpentry at Cabell County Career Technology Center, is one of five grand prize winners of the 2025 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.

The prize, meant to increase understanding, support and investment in skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools, received more than 1,000 applications from 49 states and Washington D.C.

On the Tools for Schools site, Roberts said students in his carpentry program participate in the West Virginia Simulated Workplace Initiative where they apply for, and carry out, leadership roles including crew leader, safety manager, and facilities manager.

“I strive to create a learning culture in which students become more independent in completing tasks, and less dependent on me as the instructor, as they advance through the program,” Roberts wrote. “An important part of this environment is that students can make mistakes and have the opportunity to examine how to develop a better outcome for the task. At the center of this is an earned trust between the students and myself.”

Roberts will personally receive $30,000 while $70,000 will go to Cabell County Career Technology Center as part of the award. In addition, Roberts and other winners will join a network of more than 150 previous winners working to help boost skilled trades education in their local communities and nationally.