When they’re not being thrown, kicked or otherwise used at recess, Westside Elementary School’s basketballs, kickballs and other playground items rest on racks near the exterior doors. However, the current racks are bendable, “chintzy” and expensive to replace, said PE teacher Luke Robertson, so he approached Northwest College’s welding department last fall for a better solution.

After months of work and planning, NWC welding student and Rod Burners Club member Daniel Yoder recently delivered a much sturdier set of racks custom fit to Westside’s vestibules.

“They’re pretty awesome,” Robertson said.

Yoder met with Robertson about the specifications, came up with a design and then got to work on three racks for recess equipment and another to hold lost and found items.

The Westside Parent Teacher Council covered the $467 worth of steel, while Yoder supplied all the labor. Yoder estimated that he put in somewhere between 100 and 120 hours of work, which included both class and personal time.

His sweat equity allowed the Westside parent group to acquire four racks for roughly the price of one. And Robertson said they’re sturdier than anything he could have ordered.

The teacher was also impressed with Yoder’s willingness to commit so much time to the project.

Yoder graduated from NWC on Saturday with an associate’s degree — his second — in outdoor education and recreational leadership. The Oregon native said he plans to hang around Powell until July, then head to Tennessee and get a welding job.

As for the racks, they’ll get a complimentary coating from Kolor Blast Powder Coating in Cody before being deployed at Westside next fall.