Colonial Heights grad wins gold medal at SkillsUSA competition

Daniel Culler admits that school wasn't a lot of fun. In fact, the recent graduate of Colonial Heights High School says, with a laugh, that he caught a case of senioritis on the first day of sixth grade.

"I have never had much fun in school. School is not my thing," Culler said.

That doesn't mean he didn't excel; he graduated with about a 3.6 grade-point average. And he capped his senior year last month by becoming Colonial Heights' first-ever gold-medal winner at the national SkillsUSA competition. In 2007, Colonial Heights student Brandon Woody earned a bronze medal at the national competition

Culler, who also was the district and state champion, won the Job Skills Demonstration open category with a chair caning demonstration at the national event held June 21-27 in Kansas City, Mo.

"I demonstrated, in seven minutes, something that took me 10 years to learn," said Culler, who is planning to attend John Tyler Community College this fall.

Condensing a decade worth of knowledge into a handful of minutes was enough to beat out nearly 40 other students from across the country. In total, there were 91 competitions for more than 5,400 students at the SkillsUSA event.

"The top 2 percent of students in the nation end up at nationals," said Francene Green, Colonial Heights' industrial cooperative training coordinator. "To be among the elite of the elite, it's really a significant accomplishment."

Culler's education at chair caning -- using rattan to weave a chair bottom -- came from his father, Steve, who owns the Richmond business, The Cane Connection.

It's a painful process to endure as the skill is learned, the younger Culler said. He describes the pain as having paper cuts and fingernails pulled off all day long as the person "struggles to get a product into a place it doesn't want to be."

Culler, who built a blacksmith forge in his backyard, worked part time during the school year at his father's business as he honed his skill. He spent many hours practicing his demonstration at home and school to prepare for nationals.

His success at the national competition extends beyond the classroom. It can serve as an example for how students in the career and technical education program at Colonial Heights High can aid community business.

"For the community, they'll see some of the skills our kids possess, because every kid who comes through this program co-ops," said Travis Ridley, Colonial Heights director of career and technical education. "They have some work experience there. These employers, especially in these economic times, they can see some of the skills our kids possess . . . carry over into their jobs."

But that doesn't mean Culler will follow his father's footsteps into the rare niche of caning chairs. He hopes, one day, to study criminal justice or homeland security at Virginia Commonwealth University and enter law enforcement. But will chair caning, a painfully rare skill, remain something he'll keep doing?

"Never in a million years; absolutely not," he said. "Caning chairs is evil."

Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or .