By BRANDON WORF

bworf@dailynews.net

Boarding School.

It's not the place you'd expect to find teenagers enjoying themselves on a regular basis. But for a handful of kids at the Tipton Boys Academy, that might just be happening.

Six boys from the academy traveled to Hays Friday afternoon to see the project they've been working on for the past few months come to completion. Bending metal, welding, cutting, shearing, braising, they've been doing it all--by hand--to create something that they and future attendees of the institution can enjoy.

And it's a disc golf course.

"It started after I began showing some of the guys how to weld and braise steel," said Bill Flipse, a Hays resident who volunteers once a week at the institution in Tipton, KS. "It started with that, and they eventually approached the program directors about building a disc golf course for the campus, and they approved it, so here we are."

The TBA boys actually hand-built the goals used in the course, and spent the day in Hays to watch them get powder coated, and to see how a real fabrication shop does the same work with powerful tools and machines.

"Leon's Welding provided us all the steel rods and plating that we needed at cost, and they gave us a reduced rate on getting everything powder coated once we had it built," Flipse said. "Heartland Building Center gave us exactly 500 feet of chain, and we used every bit of it."

After acquiring the materials, Flipse took a picture of a goal style commonly seen around Hays and other courses in the state, and used it as a reference.

"We drew up and made our own templates to do all the bending, cutting, and welding," he said. "And everything was done by hand, but the boys just ate it right up."

The group in Hays had actually picked up from where a previous group had left off, and watched their work go from the dull gray of galvanized steel, to a bright, neon-orange color that was easily seen in direct sunlight.

"I liked the idea from the start," said TBA Program Director Mike McClendon. "The first group originally brought the idea to us, and after they left, these guys were eligible to pick it up from there."

Boys who attend the camp are monitored on their behavior, and are rewarded with the ability to participate in special projects or events such as this one. Flipse said that the reasons for being sent to Tipton varied, but came from a few basic reasons.

"Most of them are here for being involved with things like drugs, gangs, being severely disobedient, all kinds of reasons," Flipse said. "But these guys, despite their backgrounds, are the cream of the crop." McClendon agreed.

"Most of these kids are here for things other than crimes," he said. "Most of them are here for what amounts to an attitude adjustment, and if they don't try to fix themselves, it can get really boring out there."

One boy from Alabama, who identified himself as Alex, said he landed himself here with one of those reasons.

"I got here from doing drugs, mostly meth," he said. Last names were withheld for security reasons.

"I've been at Tipton for about three months, and I'll go back to Alabama in December."

Alex had done a majority of the welding on the cages for the targets, and said it "kept him distracted from Kansas."

"I like Alabama better so far," he laughed. "Kansas is boring, it's just a bunch of fields from what I've seen."

Another boy at the camp identified as Gabe, said he ended up there for some of the same reasons.

"Drugs got me here," he said. "This is the third time I've been through a treatment thing like this, and so far this is the best of them."

Gabe, who did some welding and broke some of the chains, was born in the U.S., but lived in Dubai for 11 years with his mother and step-dad, and says that's where things went awry.

"I got involved with meth in Dubai, and went through two treatment centers or camps overseas, and neither were as effective as this one," he said.

The Tipton Boys Academy was founded 3 years ago by owners Kevin and Kay Richie, and McClendon says they're doing really well.

"Kevin and Kay were operating a business placing kids in schools like Tipton, and they found that most of them weren't up to par," he said. "So they opened it up, and so far, so good."