By Lisa Carolin
As soon as the first significant snowfall arrives in the Chelsea area, keep your eyes peeled for a snow plow decorated by fifth-grade students at Chelsea’s South Meadows Elementary School.
The Washtenaw County Road Commission contacted schools across the county to ask students to decorate their plows. It just so happens that South Meadows Teacher Teddi Lewis has a student whose dad works for the Road Commission.
Students worked together to brainstorm themes for the plow that would represent our community in a positive way,” said Lewis. “It is also great that doing this project allowed us to promote interaction throughout the surrounding community as that is one of our district goals.”
Students submitted their ideas for how to paint the plow, and Lewis says two common themes were the Bulldog mascot and the Chelsea “C”.
“They all decided that they each wanted a chance to paint something meaningful to them and/or to our community,” said Lewis. “This project was an opportunity to build our classroom community as well.”
Emily Kizer, communications manager for the WCRC, said this is the first year of the paint-a-plow program.
“We decided to start the program after being inspired by other road commissions and departments across the country who do a similar program,” said Kizer. “It’s a great way to involve the community in the important work we do and to bring a little sunshine during the winter. We also love the idea of the community watching out for ‘their’ snow plow and getting excited when our drivers are out.”
Kizer says that until it’s needed, the plow decorated by the South Meadows students has been placed near the fence at the WCRC’s Chelsea Yard at the corner of W. Middle and Wilkinson streets.
For the WCRC, the purpose of the project is to help students, parents, teachers, and members of the community better understand what the WCRC’s plow drivers do to help keep them safe.
In addition to that lesson, Lewis’ fifth-graders learned a lot more.
“Students showed awareness for others and maturity on deciding on a way to paint the plow that represented Chelsea,” said Lewis. “They grew in their teamwork and ability to effectively communicate with one another.”
