CLAYTON — First State Military Academy dedicated a  flagpole built as part of an Eagle Scout project in a brief ceremony on campus Monday.

Junior Wesley Jones completed the flagpole for his Scout initiative. Wesley, along with other volunteers, put in more than 200 hours to install the 25-foot pole in front of Morrell Hall at the school.

Morrell Hall is the home of the school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Program.

Afterward, Wesley described what the project meant to him, saying he felt “a lot of pride, anxiety and sweat” in completing it.

“I’m happy with the way it turned out,” he said. “When I walk by, I know this is my work.”

In addition to the actual pole, there are a 10-by-10-foot red-brick pad and a 5-by-35-foot sandstone-brick walkway.

“This is an important upgrade for our program,” said retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Terrance Jordan, an instructor at the school. “This allows us to conduct morning and evening colors and to teach cadets the proper way to raise and lower the flag.”

Wesley and his support team had a number of steps to complete prior to raising the pole. Bushes and several hundred pounds of rocks had to be removed from the site. After clearing the site, he realized that a number of tree limbs had to be trimmed back, so he could actually raise the flagpole.

Wesley, a member of Boy Scout Troop 135 in Smyrna, said he raised more than $2,300 for the project. He began planning in April and completed the bulk of the work this summer.

FSMA, a public charter and Marine Corps Junior Officer Training Corps school, is beginning its seventh academic year. The school has an enrollment of 482 students from 12 of 16 feeder school districts in Delaware.