Rock Canyon Elementary School students will have a new attraction as they enter their school this year.

"We put all of the planets up on the ceiling, and we put the signs up next to them," he said. "We also made the teacher's book with activities and games."

The planets have been scaled down both in size and distance, making the Earth about 3 inches wide, and Saturn 4 to 5 feet across. Hulterstrom said he got the idea from Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, where the planets are painted on the floor.

Hulterstrom said he was looking for a great Eagle Project, and he ended up with one that took more than 300 hours of work with more than 50 volunteers. Local artists Greg Olsen and Michael and Nick Coleman helped to paint the planets, and several volunteers researched the planets to come up with facts for student activities.

"Everyone worked so hard to do it," he said.

Each planet has a plaque on the wall next to it explaining its features, and Hulterstrom said ideas for more projects just kept coming. A last-minute idea was just completed -- a bulletin board showing directions to the "best school in the solar system."

"[The project] was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and looks a lot bigger than I expected," he said.

Hulterstrom said he hopes children learn from the display as they walk through the corridor. He always had a hard time imagining Earth's size, and he said the visual display should help put the planets into perspective.

"They're going to learn a lot about how far [the planets] are and how small Earth really is," he said.

Rock Canyon was chosen as a beneficiary because Hulterstrom's mother works at the school, and he said it is the only school he has ever known. Every teacher who has seen the display so far has been very excited, he said.

"I really like this school," he said. "I've been there since kindergarten."

Michael Coleman, a local artist who specializes in landscape, Western and wildlife art, said he wanted to help Hulterstrom because he and his father are good friends of Coleman. The project turned out well, and Coleman said it will give children something to think about and help them to use their imagination.

"[They'll] realize where we are in the scheme of things," he said.

Dean Nielsen, principal of the school, said Hulterstrom is a unique student who continued to come up with new ideas for the project. The solar system took a lot of hard work, and Nielsen said Hulterstrom would do more if he could.

"He's a young man that has a real drive," he said. "When he sets his mind to do something, there's no switch to turn off."

Several other Eagle Scout projects have taken place at the school this summer, including putting the Road Runner mascot in the lunchroom and painting the curb and a new crosswalk, the United States map on the playground and installing new tetherball poles. Nielsen said he believes the projects show the character of former students who want to give back to the school.

"All of those things are just a reflection of what our community wants to do to make a difference for our school," he said.