When Alta High’s Athletic Director Jim Langford set out to purchase a scorer’s tower for the school’s growing lacrosse program, he found commercially manufactured options were expensive and lacked customization.
So, he brought the project inhouse, and tasked welding students at the Canyons Technical Education Center with fabricating a tower to spec. The finished product — costing less than a third of the going commercial rate – was a score for taxpayers, Alta High’s athletics program, and the students who engineered and constructed the 12-foot tower, learning firsthand what it’s like delivering a product to a paying customer.
“It’s a win-win for all involved,” said Sam Soter, the Business Development Specialist for the Canyons Innovation Center, which aims to make this type of experiential or apprenticeship learning available to more students. “With the Innovation Center opening in August 2027, we are actively reaching out to local businesses to solicit those back-burner projects they don’t currently have the bandwidth to take on.”
Soter will be at the Utah Small Business Summit and Expo on Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy. His goal: invite local companies to see how their real-world ideas could benefit from a fresh set of eyes and hands.
“Partnering is easy. You bring us a project idea, and we assign a talented group of students to tackle it under the guidance of an expert instructor,” Soter said. “You act as the client. They deliver actionable solutions and deliverables.”
The entire experience is not only a resume-builder for students, but a way for industries to build talent pools and identify future talent for their teams.
“At the heart of the mission of the Canyons Innovation Center is to prepare students as early as high school for immediate entry to high-demand careers,” said CIC Director Reid Newey. “Jobs in welding and manufacturing bring in annual wages ranging from $47,000 to $100,000. This is a solid career path for many of our students, and these industries need skilled labor.”
The scorer’s tower project began with a practical problem.
Langford had a need, and CTEC Welding Instructor AJ Snell had students eager to fill it with a solution they grew from initial concept to final construction.
Recent CTEC welding graduates Drew Searle and Rowan Penrod took on much of the work. They met with Langford to understand Alta’s needs, helped develop and refine the design, addressed engineering challenges, and incorporated feedback throughout the process.
“There’s a big difference between completing a welding assignment for a grade and building something that people are actually going to use. Drew and Rowan had to think about design, structural integrity, deadlines, and what the customer wanted. Those are the same expectations they’ll encounter in the workforce,” Snell said.
The finished tower provides about 100 square feet of space, creating a customized vantage point for managing games and potentially supporting other Alta athletic programs.
“It’s an awesome upgrade to our athletic facilities at Alta,” said Alta Principal Kenneth Rowley.
For Searle and Penrod, who invested hundreds of hours on the project, it was a chance to not only gain experience in welding and fabrication, but also to practice skills needed in nearly every profession — communication, problem-solving, and project management.
“I had a lot of fun with this project,” Searle said. “It was awesome being able to see it come together. As well as being able to work on and design it. It was amazing.”
Every time a game is played at Alta, the tower will stand as a reminder of what Canyons students can accomplish when given the opportunity to apply their learning.
Curious to learn more or submit a project for students to undertake? Visit us online and complete our Intake Form.
