The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and Idaho Department of Education are working together to launch the state’s first ever annual “Name a Snowplow” contest.
[Above photo by the ITD]
As of October 1, eighth grade students statewide are invited to participate with their classrooms to submit a name. Contest entries will be accepted through the month of October, with the winning names announced by 2025.
Winning names will adorn two plows in each of six Idaho regions; names selected through voting by ITD employees. Those winning names will be displayed directly on ITD plows, with winners awarded a visit to their school by that plow and driver to talk about winter safety.
“Our snowplow drivers are very thankful to schools that are able to join this fun educational opportunity and help increase winter driving safety awareness,” explained Dan McElhinney, ITD’s chief operations officer and deputy director, in a statement.
“This contest is such a fun way to engage students with a safety message that’s essential to our young drivers, especially as the weather cools and winter approaches,” added Debbie Critchfield, Idaho’s superintendent of public instruction.
State departments of transportation across the country use similar programs to both emphasize safe winter driving practices and highlight the importance work performed by snow plow operators.
Those include: The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities; the Connecticut Department of Transportation; the Massachusetts Department of Transportation; the Michigan Department of Transportation; and both the North Dakota Department of Transportation and South Dakota Department of Transportation, to name just a few.
In related news, the ITD recently took home top honors at the annual Snow & Ice Conference and National Snow Roadeo for the third time in four years.
The agency’s six-man “snow team” at the annual event – TJ Gibson, Sheldon Jones, Jed Gregersen, Dakota Morgan, Jed Henderson, and Brandon Steffens – beat out roughly 330 competitors to snag the “Top Agency” award, along with wining several individual event awards as well.
“In Idaho, our first priority is work zone safety, and by being the best in maintenance equipment safety operations we minimize time in work zones for employees and the traveling public,” emphasized ITD’s McElhinney in a separate statement.
“ITD is very proud of our six-member team for winning the 2024 National Maintenance Safety Equipment Rodeo in Colorado, proving our commitment to be the best of the best in the nation,” he added.
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