Both his grandfather and father are graduates of Prospect High School.

And like his grandfather, Don W. Andresen, he has visions of returning to high school eventually. The elder Andresen is Prospect's industrial arts teacher. The shop rooms have been Chris Andresen's favorite, so he wants to become an industrial arts teacher too.

"I try to live my life in the shop," he says.

He intends to start college at Rogue Community College in the fall.

Family background in logging and construction, and the community's timber industry history, have had a strong influence on Andresen. He says he has grown up around machinery and construction and logging sites, and has learned to enjoy the work

and do it well.

Besides, he adds, industrial arts skills can have practical benefits: "I have a car that requires a lot of mechanicking."

Andresen wants to teach because he realized this year that he likes to share his skills and knowledge with young kids. Among the awards and honors he has received was one for helping young students with their industrial arts projects.

He also has been honored as an athlete -- not for racking up the most points, but for helping other student athletes. He won the title "most inspirational player."

"I try my best to encourage everyone," he says. "I kept everybody motivated.

Andresen's work is known beyond school grounds. He has been involved in several community projects. He's worked in local parks, and he and a friend rebuilt one of the town's fire trucks.

As part of the local Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, he was named top corps member for his perfect attendance after a summer of work.

His interest in community projects may stem from growing up in a town of just a couple hundred families, and attending the county's smallest high school. Prospect's enrollment ranges from 60 to 70.

Andresen says he feels as though he has been raised by the whole town.

When left on his own, Andresen is inclined to pick up a tool and go to work. In the Conservation Corps, he was the self-designated maintenance person, keeping everything from chainsaws to pickup trucks running smoothly.

He chose to take most of high school's basic and required classes in his first two years.

"So in my junior and senior year I could do pretty much what I wanted."

For the past two years he has focused on industrial arts because that is where he has felt he has natural ability, and it is what he enjoys.

But that doesn't mean the he has been able to slack off academics. Teachers have told him he is good in math and science, and many of those skills are necessary in wood and metals projects.

For instance, he says, "you have to know science to be able to weld."