KFYR TV: ‘Whiteout Warrior’: McIntosh sixth graders win SDDOT ‘Name a Plow’ contest
McIntosh sixth graders are now famous, at least on north central South Dakota’s highways.
Watch the segment here.
Their snowplow name—“Whiteout Warrior”—was one of 12 names selected in the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s annual snowplow naming contest.
This week, they got to see Whiteout Warrior up close.
Arlen Halverson’s winter office is the cab of a snowplow. He’s in charge of keeping 120 miles of highways clear.
“When most people are staying home because of the weather, that’s when we’re out working,” Halverson said.
McIntosh sixth graders say snowplow drivers like Halverson are warriors.
“A warrior is a person with strong abilities that would only be out during cold whiteouts,” explained sixth grader Issac Hovda.
That idea won them the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s annual Name a Plow contest. Halverson’s snowplow is now named Whiteout Warrior.
“They talked about just how a warrior is somebody who is so strong and able to go into battle and into places that other people would not, don’t necessarily want to. And I think that proves true with our DOT guys who go and plow roads and weather that not a lot of people want to drive,” said sixth-grade teacher Brandi Maier.
The students got to visit the DOT shop and see the Whiteout Warrior up close.
“I think it’d be cool to be bigger than everybody on the road and be able to control where the snow goes and how much salt you put down,” said sixth grader Gage Gehring.
“A good opportunity for them to learn a little about snowplow safety and road safety,” added Maier.
“We try to teach them how fast a snowplow operates, things that our folks might not know that to teach them,” said John Villbrandt, SDDOT Mobridge area engineer. “They can say, ‘Hey, mom, there’s a plow. Slow down a little bit.’”
The students also got to sign their names on the blade. Those names will be a permanent reminder for Halverson of why this job matters.
This was the sixth year of the snowplow naming contest in South Dakota.
Other winning names include “Rhinestone Plowboy,” “Sleddy Roosevelt,” “Mount Slush No More” and “Scoopy Scoopy Doo.”
The North Dakota DOT does a similar contest every year, too.