Noteworthy UW Lab School kindergarten class visit

By Andrea Staley

UW Lab School in Laramie is helping their youngsters learn a little more about what different industries are doing in their community. With visits to Bloedorn Lumber and an engineering firm to learn about chemical engineering, it was finally their turn to learn a little bit about the transportation department.

D1’s Facilities Coordinator Josh Baker’s son Baylor and his classmates filtered into the Laramie complex conference room. There, they were able to watch videos of our maintainers opening our mountain passes, see our snow plows clearing roads, and ask questions about WYDOT. So many little hands were raised in excitement by the end when they were finally asked, “who wants to go see a snowplow?!”

Orange vests were passed around before loading up in the school bus to make the quick trip over to our truck storage facility. When unloading from the school bus, the class saw a snowplow leaving to make their run. The class started waving and got a little honk back. Shrieks of laughter and glee erupted from the class.

Eric Anderson, Laramie Area Maintenance Supervisor, met the class at the truck storage and escorted them to the snowplows. One by one, each kid had a chance to sit in the driver seat, blow the air horn, and squeal with laughter. Eric then answered all sorts of questions. At one point, a kindergartner may have admitted that a broken sign post might have been hit by his father. Other notable highlights included the kids realizing they could stand under the snowplow blade. Lots of pictures and some very excited “thank yous” later, we had to say goodbye. Thanks again for visiting us, UW Lab School! We hope to see you again in the future.