Dalton Ulch earns Eagle Scout honor

By: Jacob Disbro '15

                It is not too often that a freshman in high school can reach an Eagle Scout status; this makes Dalton Ulch very unique. Dalton Ulch is currently a freshman here, and has been very active in the Wild Side Organization. He has done volunteer work for five years; ever since he was in fourth grade.

He made over $2,000 for Wild Side and used that money to build a squirrel cage that is eight feet high, eight feet wide and 24 feet long. Right now there are 25 baby squirrels being housed for the preparation of winter.

                The real question is how did he manage to raise the $2,800 on his own? Dalton’s grandfather gave him an old forklift that was just sitting in his grandfather’s workspace to sell. Dalton spent hours upon hours of work scrapping the forklift for some money. His hard work paid off as he received a substantial amount of money from the metal. A large sum of his money came from the forklift’s used battery. He also received donations from The Home Depot in Jackson and ACE Hardware in Eaton Rapids.

                What is Wild Side? The Wild Side organization is an animal rehabilitation center that houses animal that cannot survive on their own. Mrs. Sagaert has also been involved with Wild Side and has noticed Dalton’s hard work, “Dalton’s goal was to achieve an Eagle Scout status before entering the ninth grade. You can’t just achieve the status by simply building a cage. He had to go through an extensive planning process, and go in front of a Council of Scouts to explain his idea and have it approved by the council before he was able to build a cage.”

                 Dalton has strictly done volunteer work at Wild Side, he and his family have contributed their time from the beginning. What is the average age of an Eagle Scout? Proud of his accomplishment Dalton says, “Scouts typically reach the Eagle status at 18 years old, but young Eagle Scouts are becoming more and more common with the years that go by.”

                Congratulations to Dalton on reaching his goal of being and Eagle Scout. We are proud to have him as a student in Eaton Rapids High School.