Dalton Clark completes Eagle Scout project at Monroe High School
Dalton Clark made the music department at Monroe High School a little neater.
Clark, a junior and a member of the MHS Marching Band, designed and built new cabinets for two percussion instrument storage areas at the school.
The work was his project for the Eagle Scout rank, Boy Scouting’s highest honor. Clark is a member of Boy Scout Troop 502 from Grace Lutheran Church. He is the son of Darrell and Tammy Clark.
“Dalton saw a need for better organization and care of the percussion section instruments at the height of the pandemic,” MHS said. “He spoke with Mr. Swinkey about the project, then presented to the Monroe Instrumental Music Booster Club Board,” MHS said.
Dalton did the work himself, including cleaning out the storage space and organizing the instruments.
“He designed and finished the cabinets himself. He started by making an inventory of all items that needed to be stored safely in those rooms, then he took measurements of the available space and drafted the designs himself. He asked for my input on how much space I would like the overall cabinet design to take up and then scaled the project to the appropriate size,” Joseph Swinkey, MHS director of bands, said.
The price tag was costly.
“His project cost $2,169 to complete,” his mom said. “He raised the money from pop bottle drives, candy bar sales and donations.”
Dalton did much of the work last summer and finished it this fall. The band director is pleased.
“I love the new cabinets. They are beautiful and allow all our marching percussion instruments to stay safety tucked away behind a locked door. They also help clear space in the rooms where they are located for practice,” Swinkey said. “We can now doubly utilize those rooms for storage and practice, owing to the smaller footprint of the new cabinets, and students can access the equipment quicker when they need it.”
“Dalton's project was ambitious, and I'm very proud of the work he continues to do for our music program,” Swinkey added. “It's projects like these that show just how valuable music education is in our public schools, and how much it matters to the students who participate.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Dalton Clark completes Eagle Scout project at Monroe High School
