The Brookside Beast visits its namesake school
Nov. 20, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Classes streamed outside for a quick up-close look at the snow plow. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Students at Brookside Primary School last spring helped rename their school, so they were ready for the challenge this fall to help name a state highway plow.
As part of a statewide challenge to school students, the Vermont Agency of Transportation put out a call for kids to help name the plows that will clear snow from state highways this winter. Students didn’t disappoint with their clever and creative choices than were announced this week including Darth Blader, Jennifer Snowpez and Plowy McPlowFace.
On Wednesday, the students in Waterbury got to check out the plow that now bears their name choice: the Brookside Beast.
Newly named plows visited schools across the state for students to see them up close before they are needed on the highways. In each case, plow names were assigned to rigs operating near the schools that submitted them.
The Brookside Beast plow operates in the D6 highway maintenance district and is assigned to clearing Interstate 89 between Exit 10 in Waterbury and Exit 7 in Berlin, explained driver Rich Hodziewich.
He fielded questions from the K-4 grade students who filed out of school to check out the rig parked in front of the school.
Kids kicked tires and squeezed inside the plow blade as if it were a playground play structure. They asked many questions: how far it can throw snow? What’s it like to sit up high driving in a snowstorm? Hodziewich explained how his plow is configured to plow the left lanes while another plow clears the right lane. Students listened wide-eyed as he described how on board, a computer monitor tells the driver information about salt that’s being applied at the same time.
There were discussions about weather and melting snow and ice and driving on slippery roads.
“How long does it take to get good at it?” one youngster asked. “A little while. There’s a lot to learn,” Hodziewich replied with a laugh.
Find the full list of plow names online on the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s website.