Talent on tap: City elementary students take part in Paint the Plow program
Logan Dmytryshak, a fifth grader at Juniata Gap Elementary, works on painting the sky which is a part of the design for the school’s plow. The school’s artwork will have a train with box cars that will represent different iconic places in Altoona. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
Avonna Bongiorno, a fifth grader at Juniata Gap Elementary School, works on painting the wheels for the box car that will be featured in the design for their plow. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
Juniata Gap Elementary School fifth graders Brennan Raia and Azula Campbell work on their plow, which will feature a train and box cars that represent different places in Altoona such as the Altoona Curve, Boyer Candy, Lakemont Park, Altoona Area Public Library, and Sheetz. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
Logan Dmytryshak, a fifth grader at Juniata Gap Elementary, works on painting the sky which is a part of the design for the school’s plow. The school’s artwork will have a train with box cars that will represent different iconic places in Altoona. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
Avonna Bongiorno, a fifth grader at Juniata Gap Elementary School, works on painting the wheels for the box car that will be featured in the design for their plow. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
Juniata Gap Elementary School fifth graders Brennan Raia and Azula Campbell work on their plow, which will feature a train and box cars that represent different places in Altoona such as the Altoona Curve, Boyer Candy, Lakemont Park, Altoona Area Public Library, and Sheetz. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
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Altoona elementary students are creating a flurry of art that represents their schools and iconic parts of Altoona on city snow plows, which will then be voted on by the public and a panel of judges.
In September, Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico announced that students from Juniata Gap Elementary, McAuliffe Heights at Irving Elementary and Holy Trinity Elementaries at Fairview and Eldorado would be participating in the annual Paint the Plow program.
School officials and teachers may direct the selection of the design and students involved, but they are not permitted to participate in the creation of the art, which represents the individual school to promote the theme of "We are Altoona Proud Because."
The city, which is providing $200 to each school to reimburse art supplies, delivered plow blades to each school on Sept 22 and will pick them up on Friday, Nov 3.
Once finished, the plows will be on display at the Station Medical Center parking lot at 17th Street and Ninth Avenue.
The finished plows have a chance to be named Judges' Pick or voted as Fan Favorite. The top two plows will be displayed in Altoona's 2023 annual Christmas parade, and students will walk in the parade with their creations.
The Judges' Pick will be decided by representatives from the city, local community organizations or businesses.
The Fan Favorite will be determined through a Facebook campaign that is open to the general public for voting.
Photos of the plow blades and the name of the schools will be posted on Facebook, and votes will be counted by the number of likes that a plow receives.
After the parade, the blades will be visible when in service during the winter weather months.
Each year, McAuliffe Heights participates in the competition organized by student council advisers Amanda Chirdon and Maureen Hoyne.
This year, they have six students who created a design with items such as a steam train, pretzels and their school mascot.
In 2019, McAuliffe Heights won the Judges' Pick and their plow was shown in the parade.
Juniata Gap Principal Tricia Rosas said the school has about 25 kids participating in the project, mostly fourth and fifth graders.
She said in 2018, Juniata Gap's plow won, and the school has a photo of it on display in the main office.
Painting the plow is harder than it looks, Rosas said.
"These students had to put a primer on the whole thing before they started because the plow does not have a smooth surface," she said.
She said every part of the design for the plow was drawn and painted by the students.
To go with the Altoona theme, the students painted a train, with each of the box cars representing a different part of the city such as the Altoona Curve, Boyer Candy, Altoona Area Public Library, Lakemont Park and Sheetz.
The design also includes a tunnel, like one might see near the Horseshoe Curve, and mountains in the background.
Azula Campbell, a fifth grade student, liked being able to draw all the places that can only be found in Altoona.
"I think people will be happy to see it because we all live in Altoona and it celebrates what makes it special," she said.
Art teacher Brianna Filer helped organize the students involved in the project.
"It is a lot of work to coordinate the kids," she said.
Because the area that the students have to work in is small, she has about five students painting for about 15 minutes and then sends in another group until everyone has a chance to participate.
Juniata Gap students finally got a chance to begin their project Wednesday after rainy weather prevented them from working on the plow, which they have had for about two weeks, Filer said.
Her students created a design and then drew it all on the plow with pencils.
They were planning to get a good chunk done on Thursday and today.
"We need to have it done by next Friday, when the city comes to pick it up," Filer said.
Fifth grade student Avonna Bongiorno, who really enjoys painting and art, said she was having fun creating the design.
She was looking forward to people being able to see what she and fellow classmates made during the Christmas parade.
"I'm excited for people to see my artwork," Bongiorno said.
Mirror Staff Writer Cati Keith is at 814-946-7535.