Schools
Eagle Scout Leaves Mark on San Juan Hills High
You know those letters on the hill near the football stadium? Here's whom to thank.
The Express Newspaper, San Juan Hills High
Originally posted at 2:22 p.m. Jan. 22, 2014. Edited to correct spelling.
When Nicholas Welter, a high school junior, set his sights on becoming an Eagle Scout, he needed to find a project that helped the community.
One of his ideas was to come up with a plan to give San Juan Hills High School something it’s been lacking since its opening: having our school logo on the side of the hill facing our school. In doing so, Welter secured his name in SJHHS history.
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“I’m a Boy Scout in Troop 113, and I needed my Eagle project requirement and decided that our school needed its letters on the hill because every school in this district has one except us,” he said.
Welter is no stranger to community projects. He has helped to gather old baseball equipment for a Nicaraguan baseball school, which he said was “...rad [being able to] help those kids have stuff to use.”
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Pitching the idea to put the SJHHS letters on the hill facing the school, Welter found officials at the school were receptive, and they gave the green light. It took him, along with members of his troop and friends from school, 55 hours to complete what he likes to call, “The Brand.”
Through this project, Welter said he learned leadership skills.
“The big part of this project was organizing the help I needed...members of my troop mostly, and members of the school too.” Welter gave a shout out to Noah Delorean, Kaiden Gerlach and Thomas Pike, who were “were major contributors to this project.”
Welter was promoted to Eagle Scout for his project. He plans to to continue with the Boy Scouts.
“I bet I will [continue to] participate in projects because I like that kind of stuff, but mostly in Boy Scouts I’ll continue to mentor younger boys to get up to this level and become Eagle Scouts.”
Being an Eagle Scout is not only about completing a project. Each scout must advance through many different ranks, provide leadership in the troop as well as earning 21 merit badges.
Scouts must also complete their eagle projects before they turn 18, or sooner if they want to use it on their college applications.
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