LCTI participated in PennDOT’s 2025 Paint the Plow program.

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. — Students from two Lehigh Career & Technical Institute programs teamed up to create a functional art piece for PennDOT’s annual Paint the Plow program.

The program promotes winter driving safety with snow plows painted by high school students from across the commonwealth. This year’s program theme is “Don’t race. Allow some space.”

LCTI is among 14 District 5 high schools that participated in the program and one of only two from the Lehigh Valley. District 5 covers Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.

Members of the public can vote for their favorite District 5 plow design via an online form that’s open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14

Vote now

The theme inspired Advertising Design/Commercial Art students Julian Lopez and Lucas Wilk to dream up a forest blanketed by snow and divided by a winding road. The wintery scene shows a buck standing in the forest and swerve marks on the road.

Lopez, a Northwestern Lehigh High School junior, and Wilk, a Whitehall High School sophomore, used Adobe Illustrator to bring their idea to life. Advertising Design teacher William Childs said he advised the boys to keep their design simple to maximize its impact.

Once Lopez and Wilk wrapped up the design, Auto Collision Repair Technology teacher Steven Johnston and his students got to work. The removed rust and abraded the plow’s surface to prepare it for several layers of commercial-grade paint, starting with a primer and finishing with a clearcoat. The final step was applying yellow vinyl letters that spelled out this year’s theme to the plow’s rubber flaps.

Auto Collision Repair Technology students who worked on the plow project include:

• Mikhail Antipas, a Salisbury High School sophomore
• Ziad Asaad, a Parkland High School senior
• Chase Clarkson, a Parkland High School junior
• Caden Correnti, an Emmaus High School sophomore
• Jacob Dallas, an Emmaus High School sophomore
• Jezekiel Frisby, a Louis E. Dieruff High School freshman
• Elliot Hook, a Northern Lehigh High School junior
• Toryn Moyer, a Southern Lehigh High School freshman
• Michelle Patton, a Parkland High School freshman

Johnston said this marks the first time that he and his students participated in Paint the Plow, so there was a learning curve. It proved to be a great project for students because it allowed them to apply a variety of the skills they’ve learned at LCTI.

This is how we innovate!