On May 16, the Public Works Department hosted a class of fifth graders from Next Generation School for a field trip. The class had been learning about history, civilization and maps in their classroom. Kris Koester, Public Information Officer conducted a brief presentation for the class, which included examples from each of the three different divisions of the department. The presentation also included early depictions of snow plowing and street cleaning vs. our new modern equipment. After the presentation, the class was given a tour of the public works grounds and building including the brine and fleet service facilities. The class interacted and asked questions about several of the different pieces of equipment that were present. The tour wrapped up in the sign shop, where Glen Berger, Traffic & Lighting Supervisor and Nate Williams, Traffic Maintenance Worker, talked to the students about our traffic lighting system while demonstrating how to make a street sign. After the tour, the students returned for another presentation, this time covering our GIS system and CityWorks system, led by Brandon Haist, GIS Technician. Brandon demonstrated several of the GIS features and showed them how they could use our interactive maps that are present on the City’s website. The students and their teacher followed up with a very nice email thanking all those involved and asked if they could schedule their trip for next year. Thanks to all of the Public Works staff who pitched in their efforts to make the field trip run smoothly.
