{"id":44226,"date":"2024-06-01T18:47:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T22:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=44226"},"modified":"2024-05-29T16:51:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T20:51:34","slug":"paulding-hancock-students-paint-the-plows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/paulding-hancock-students-paint-the-plows\/","title":{"rendered":"Paulding & Hancock Students Paint the Plows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Paulding FFA Chapter members pose with their Paint-the-Plow submission: (from left) Piper Kochel, Hunter Couts, Drake Ankney, Blayne Pease, Bryson Pease, Jack Woods, Tytus Manz, Matt Bail, Karlee Akers, and Carson Eitniear<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 1\u2019s annual Paint-the-Plow contest winners are Hancock County\u2019s Riverdale Middle School and the Paulding FFA Chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riverdale, located in Mt. Blanchard, collected the most votes on social media to win the people\u2019s choice award, earning 969 votes on ODOT District 1\u2019s Facebook page contest. The plow with the most likes, comments, and shares wins the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artists\u2019 work honors Mr. Luke Swavel, a beloved middle school teacher and coach who passed away unexpectedly in May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLuke was a dedicated Falcon staff member,\u201d said Greg Rossman, Riverdale Local Schools superintendent. \u201cHe gave 100 percent effort in his history classes and made connections with all of his students,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ada High School took second place with 513 votes, and in third place, Upper Scioto Valley High School with 480 votes, both with bold school mascot-themed plows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paulding FFA Chapter\u2019s creative entry, “Move Over… Mailbox Slayer,” earned the coveted ODOT Choice Award, selected by ODOT District 1 employees at the annual roadeo competition on May 8. Fort Jennings High School and Allen East High School took second and third place, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese plows will be more than just snow-fighting tools. They’ll be ambassadors for their schools, spreading joy and pride at fairs, parades, and in neighborhoods throughout the year,” said Chris Hughes, the deputy director of ODOT District 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2014, ODOT District 1 has hosted an annual Paint-the-Plow contest, with a brief hiatus in 2020 and 2021 when a virtual contest was held instead. Schools unleash their creativity on real snowplows in this program which fosters community engagement, school spirit, and color on the winter landscape. This year was one of the most crowded contests ever with 26 schools from all eight counties in District 1 participating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ODOT employees chose a favorite entry from each of the district’s eight counties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Allen County: Allen East High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Defiance County: Ayersville High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Hancock County: McComb High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Hardin County: Hardin Northern High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Paulding County: Paulding FFA Chapter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Putnam County: Fort Jennings High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Van Wert County: Crestview FFA Chapter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Wyandot County: Mohawk FFA Chapter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All entries may be viewed on ODOT District 1’s Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 1\u2019s annual Paint-the-Plow contest winners are Hancock County\u2019s Riverdale Middle School and the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[18282,22464,16236,16224,15046,19366,22465,18145,760,13611,7083,18144,16222],"class_list":["post-44226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-school","tag-blayne-pease","tag-bryson-pease","tag-carson-eitniear","tag-drake-ankney","tag-hunter-couts","tag-jack-woods","tag-karlee-akers","tag-matt-bail","tag-odot","tag-paint-the-plow","tag-paulding-ffa-chapter","tag-piper-kochel","tag-tytus-manz"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t