Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

02:13PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025Print Story | Email Story

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."

The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School.

The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday.

The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season.

The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations.

"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.

"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."

Wagner's class won in the Grades 5 to 8 category; Tabitha Shearer's fourth-grade class at Colrain Central School won in the K-4 category with "Master Snowda."

District 1 covers all of Berkshire County and the towns of Ashfield, Colrain, Conway, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe and Shelburne in Franklin County; Blandford, Chester, Granville, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland in Hampden County; and Charlemont, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Middlefield, Plainfield and Worthington in Hampshire County.

Past Berkshire winners include last year's "Snowana" from Grade 2 at Morris Elementary in Lenox and "Ice Ice Baby" from the fifth-grade class at Pine Cobble School in Williamstown. Fourth-graders at Crosby Elementary School in Pittsfield won with "Flurry Fighter" the year before.

"MassDOT's annual 'Name a Snowplow' contest is a fun tradition that gets Massachusetts schools involved in winter safety," said Undersecretary and State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. "It gives students a chance to be creative while learning about the important work our crews do to keep our roads clear and safe. Thank you to everyone who took part in this contest, and congratulations to our winners."

Tags: school competition, snowplow,

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North Berkshire Educational Study Updating Communities

By Breanna Steele & Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:20AM / Thursday, September 24, 2026

CHESHIRE, Mass. — The steering committee for a regional study on secondary education is getting the word out to participating communities and asking for input.

Members of the North Berkshire Educational Sustainability Study spoke to the Cheshire Board of Selectmen last week and to the North Adams City Council on Tuesday.

The goal of the study is to focus on Grades 6 through 12 to understand current conditions across districts, hear people on their educational priorities, analyze strengths, opportunities, and challenges, and identify opportunities for future collaboration.

Steering Committee Chair Erin Milne, also a member of the Hoosac Valley Regional School Committee, introduced the study and why it was needed.

"We've been talking for decades about how the Northern Berkshire school communities can better collaborate with one another, rather than necessarily duplicating services," she told he Cheshire board. "And over time, it's become more and more of a pressing issue as our enrollment has been going down, but costs have been going up."

Hoosac Valley, North Adams, Mount Greylock Regional, Clarksburg, Savoy and Florida are participating in the study. A combination of declining population and rising costs are putting pressure on the districts, but the study will also look at educational opportunities that could come from collaboration.

In North Adams, Superintendent of Schools Timothy Callahan noted that "the reality is that in the North Adams Public Schools, our graduating class is now closer to what Lenox used to have as a graduating class 20 years ago ... So those are the realities, and what can we sustain, and what are the educational opportunities for our young people? Those are the questions that we're asking."

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