ITD visits Rigby students after they named a snowplow
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RIGBY — The Idaho Transportation Department unveiled a snowplow to students in Rigby after they won a contest to name it.
On Monday morning, ITD drove the snowplow that said “POW POW KA PLOW” to Rigby Middle School.
It was part of the first-ever name a snowplow contest, which ITD put on with the help of the Idaho Department of Education. Eighth-grade students across Idaho were invited to submit names last fall.
RELATED | ITD launches ‘Name a Snowplow’ contest
“ITD targeted more of the middle school ages (for the contest)… the soon-to-be drivers to kind of get some awareness out about snowplows, what we do, when we are on the roadways and safety around snowplows,” said ITD maintenance foreman Chad Barber.
Two plows in each of the six Idaho regions were selected through voting by ITD employees. The winning names are displayed across the plow blades, and the plow and driver visit the school to talk about winter safety.
Barber, along with other ITD employees, came and visited students in Rigby and showed them what the snowplow does, how big and heavy it is and the salts they use to treat the roads.
“We want young drivers to be aware of their surroundings, put the phone down, drive safe on the slick roads and pay attention to the snowplows. We are big. We take up 12 feet on our main plow and then we have our wing plows out that operate as well,” Barber said. “Safety is our number one priority.”
Eighth-grade students Maxwell Hansen and Cooper Bird said they learned a lot from the visit.
“I didn’t know there was a side plow, like a wing that helped with the plowing,” Cooper said.
The pair also brainstormed the idea of the winning name together one day in class.
“I had some of my dad’s old comics in my backpack and I was like, ‘Oh wow! Why not just (make it) fun like a comic?’ Pow Pow Ka Plow! Plow sounds a lot like pow so we just really liked that idea,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell told EastIdahoNews.com he was surprised when they were chosen as the winners because he thought a lot of people had good ideas for snowplow names. He said that seeing the snowplow with the name in person was a cool experience.
Cooper added that it was a happy moment.
“It made me feel proud of myself and that I was able to come up with that name with my friend and have that accomplishment,” Cooper said. “It’s a fun name. It can also symbolize warning drivers about getting into a crash…it can be a problem and it can be very dangerous.”
ITD also visited another winning school in the east Idaho region last week in Swan Valley. The winning plow’s name was Antisnowcial.
Click here to see the winning names across the state.
