Center Township Elementary students paint public works’ snow plows
Before working on their first public art project, the fifth-graders at Center Township Elementary School learned the difference between painting on a horizontal surface versus a vertical one.
But when the students went outside Sept. 28 and saw the size and shape of their canvasses, their eyes widened in surprise.
Their canvas was snow plows. They had a mission to paint them with messages about safety, which would be visible to anyone approaching them head-on.
Holly Wilson, art teacher at Center Township Elementary, said this is the first time the school has worked with the township. Her fifth-grade students were excited to be part of their first public art project. She said Center Township road foreman, Mike Iscrupe, approached the school with the idea.
“They were very psyched about it. Not only working on the plow but also going outside to do it,” Wilson said of her students. “We had some discussions prior to the project about how in art class we always work on a table, so we talked about how to work on a wall, and a plow is even trickier because it's curved.”
It took a few weeks of work during art class time for the students to paint the township’s six snow plows. Classes of 22 to 24 students each got about a half hour each day to do their part. Wilson said she split them into groups to make sure the students could see the project through.
Wilson created the designs for the plows on a digital platform. She used projectors to project them onto the plows so the student artists could just trace over them. According to Wilson, about four students could be painting onto the same plow simultaneously.
The students contributed some ideas to the plow paintings. Wilson explained that they implemented characters the school uses for educational initiatives, as well as school sayings like “SOAR.” The acronym stands for Safety, Ownership, Attitude, Respect — tenants that worked well for snow plow safety, Wilson said.
The sayings are simple, but the paint helped make the messages pop.
“We have some of our SOAR characters on the plows,” Wilson said. “I talked to Mike, they wanted things about safety and driving safely with the plows on the road.”
Iscrupe said he brought the idea before the township supervisors after seeing that other municipalities have done similar art projects on their snow plows. The township also provided all the supplies necessary to complete the paintings, including latex paint, brushes and shoe coverings. Iscrupe said the public works department prepared the plows for painting before delivering them to the school.
He also said he gave the art teacher and students carte blanche on what they wanted to paint on the plows. After visiting the school during a painting session, he was happy to see what they came up with.
This may not be the last time the township approaches the school with an idea like this.
“I was really excited when I had seen them,” Iscrupe said. “We would love to work with them again.”
Tanya Lewis, principal of Center Township Elementary, said the project has been a great way for the students “to connect with their community, contribute to something they’ll see in action and add a little student creativity” to the roads this winter.
“This project is... about bringing our school and community together and giving students an opportunity to use their creativity to make a meaningful contribution to the place they call home,” Lewis said. “We are incredibly grateful to Center Township for this partnership and for helping our students see that their ideas and creativity can make a difference in their own community.”
Wilson said the plows may be displayed around the township before snow falls. Students were finishing up the plow paintings Thursday, Oct. 8. She said she is unsure if the students who worked on them will make any appearance at a township supervisors meeting. She hopes to get students involved in more public projects in the coming years, even if the art is not on snow plows.
“It has been a great experience for them,” Wilson said of her students.
