Education

The Paint-A-Plow contest provides a "hands-on" activity to meet the municipal component in the Grade five curriculum. The teachers whose classes participated in the Paint-a-Plow contest were encouraged to teach their students about public works services. The students did research on York Region's public services so they could incorporate them into the plow design. York Region staff visited the schools following the contest to ask students what they learned from painting the plow. They discussed road and boulevard safety as well as weather and the environment effects.

• The plow helped to enhance learning as the children were able to see up close how big and heavy the wing of the plow is and how potentially dangerous it could be to careless motorists and pedestrians.

• The students also learned the benefit of working as a team and incorporating everyone’s creative ideas into the design.

• Each class was given non-toxic environmentally-friendly paint, which allows for a discussion on protecting the environment. The winning class received a biodegradable pen which can be planted after the ink is depleted to produce either a sunflower or a tomato plant. They also received two bags of educational books as well as the Pylon Pete trophy.