DANVILLE – The Village of Danville has, no doubt, seen its fair share of snow over the last few days. It will certainly see more as winter proceeds.
Luckily for the village, however, that snow will now be plowed in style.
One Danville High School VoAg class spent two weeks transforming the district’s lone snow plow into an artistic emblem of school pride. The plow’s front blade, which used to be yellow, now reads ‘Blue Devils’ with a script ‘B’ and ‘D’ – the letters are blue with a white border, which pop from the black background layer. The school’s logo, the Blue Devil, is featured front and center.
The idea came about because of a project the class did last year, teacher Ashley Hendershot said. Danville competed in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s ‘Paint the Plow’ competition and won third place in District 5 for its design.
ODOT dropped off a plow blade and Danville students painted it with community symbols, such as the Blue Devil logo, the FFA logo and Danville’s location on the state map. They painted it red, white, yellow and blue, and made the background black. Messages such as “Don’t text and drive” and “Click it or ticket” were painted on each side.
ODOT posted pictures of each school’s plow on its District 5 Facebook page, and the most popular plows – which were voted on by means of likes, shares, and comments – were the winners. District 5 comprises of seven area counties, including Knox, Licking and Coshocton. Danville, Knox County’s lone participant, placed third out of 11 schools.
The plow (which is still used in Danville on portions of State Route 62) was such a hit in the community that the school district’s maintenance staff asked if Hendershot’s class could pull it off again this year – except this time, on their own plow.
“They saw the one we did last year for the state so they wanted theirs done,” said senior VoAg student Corbin Hazen, smiling wryly.
Hazen led a group of five students in Hendershot’s Ag Construction class to complete the project. Hazen, the artist of the group, drew the letters and logo on the plow. The group then used an estimated half gallon of paint to fill in the lines.
They began the project in early December and were able to finish it before winter break.
The revamped plow sat in the district’s maintenance shop until last Thursday, when it was driven down Danville streets for the first time. It was unveiled initially on social media on Jan. 3, when the school account posted photos of the plow.
Hendershot said the community response so far has been positive.
“They thought it was really neat that we took the time to do that, just because it’s different from every other plow that they see,” Hendershot said. “It kind of makes ours stick out a little bit and shows school pride.”
Hazen believes the new-look plow will spread school spirit, which he knows something about. Hazen is not only a star on the DHS football and basketball teams (he earned All-Ohio honors on the gridiron this fall), but also a member of FFA and the National Honor Society. He plans to attend college next year but hasn’t decided on a school yet; his goal is to become a physician’s assistant.
Extracurriculars – and especially those that involve community service – are important for high school students, Hazen said. It gives students a creative outlet and makes their community better at the same time.
“It’s important because it makes me feel like I’m kind of giving back to the community,” Hazen said.
People may think of Hazen as the 6-foot-4 receiver/power forward, capable of breathtaking athleticism on the gridiron and hardwood. They might not see the artist, the student, the civil servant.
“There’s not much you can do when you’re playing sports besides just playing, so they get to see something so it looks like I’m actually doing something,” he said with a laugh.
Hendershot agreed. It’s also a way for her students to see the impact of their work, which she said could inspire more community service in the future.
Months after her class painted the ODOT plow, Hendershot still receives excited texts from parents saying they saw the plow that day. She believes the new plow will garner even more positive feedback.
Last Thursday, District Transportation Director Phil Blubaugh took the newly painted plow out of the maintenance shop for the first time and drove it over to the high school for a photo opportunity. Blubaugh expressed his approval of the project while sitting in the high school lobby, students whirring by on their way to their next class.
“I knew she has good talent down there,” he said of Hendershot’s VoAg program.
“I thought they did a great job on the one that they did for the Department of Transportation. So we just thought, ‘It’s for the school, why not get out there and advertise?'”
With a snowstorm coming that weekend and seemingly the whole winter ahead of him, Blubaugh knew he would be busy. But this might just make it worth it.
“I just plow snow in style now,” he said with a grin.
