Creekside students painted a WCRC snowplow, and it’s adorable.
As part of the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) “Paint-a-Plow” program, students from districts around the County have been busy helping ready some of the snowplows for the coming winter in an unusual way.
Getting the idea from other road commissions that have employed the Paint-a-Plow program with great success, the WCRC reached out to area schools to see if there might be any interest.
“The response has been great!” says Emily Kizer, Communications Manager for WCRC. “In our first year, we had seven schools from across the county participate. The feedback we received from teachers, administrators and students when we picked up the plows was priceless. One 2nd grade student in Whitmore Lake told us that he would remember that day forever and even tell his kids about it one day.”
The idea behind painting the plows is to engage the community, especially the kids, to help build awareness about the work of the WCRC. A painted snowplow makes a terrific conversation starter and it gives kids and people a chance to see the equipment up close.
So, exactly where does one begin when setting about to paint a snowplow? Creekside teacher Julie Darling, who organized the students in their artistic endeavor, says in her blog about the project,
“Water-based paint won’t work well on a snow plow. After a little research, we (myself and my partner teachers Sharon Norris and Eileen McCallum) purchased a few different colors of Rust-Oleum paint. This worked very well … we all wore gloves (vinyl in order to avoid any allergy issues), we bought Rust-Oleum mineral spirits for the clean up, we ordered A LOT of paint brushes and we put a note in the school newsletter to remember to bring in clothing that the students wouldn’t mind getting ruined.”
The students had a lot of fun painting the huge plow hilariously dubbing it “Snow Day Buster.”
“When we picked up the finished plows we were able to talk with students about what we do at the road commission and many were able to check out our trucks”, Emily explains.
The plan is for “Snow Day Buster” to be used in the Dexter area this winter. Being a large blade that sits on the front of the truck, it will be used only if there is a large amount of snow or major drifting on the roads. When not in use, it may make an appearance at community events.
The paint job is not expected to survive the harsh texture of slushy, sandy, gravely, salty road snow as it is removed. The designs will be worn off with use, which makes them ready to be painted again for next winter.
“We are just really impressed with the creativity of the plow designs and the caliber of artists that we have right here in Washtenaw County”, Emily says. “This program was a lot of fun for everyone involved, including us!”
