Introducing Sweeping Beauty — Catasauqua Borough’s newest street sweeper.

Sweeping Beauty was named by Sheckler Elementary School second-grade student Reagan Landis. It was officially unveiled June 2.

According to borough Manager Glenn Eckhart, it was the idea of state Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-133rd, to have the community participate in the naming of the new sweeper. Eckhart then had the idea to ask Sheckler students to do the honors.

“We thought it was a good way of showing that two separate governments can work together to improve the quality of life for all members of the community,” Eckhart said in a release.

The students had the opportunity to see the sweeper for the first time May 19. The grades paraded around the front of the school, where the sweeper was parked and displayed by public works employees Josh Yoo and Mike Silin. The students took the rest of the week to consider potential names before grade-level voting.

An official reveal event was planned for June 2. All of the Sheckler students gathered in the auditorium to hear which of their names was chosen.

Sheckler Elementary School Principal Dr. Robert Kucharczuk shared the other possible name finalists. They included Master Cleaner 5,000 from Aidan Ortiz in kindergarten, Steve from Aulani Thrift in first grade, Catty Cleaner from third grade and Bob on the Job from Noah Moll and Gavin Leathers in fourth grade. A number of third-grade students put forth the name Catty Cleaner, including Zoe Onody, Nora Hillenbrand, Destine Encarnacion Perez, Alondra Cespedes, Evelyn Mazzola, Jaxson Hymans, Pierson Garcia, Piper BonHomme, Jordyn Seremula, Daniel Ly and Shane Ewing.

The second-grade entry of Sweeping Beauty, from Anthony Brinkley’s class, took the final honor.

During the June 2 presentation, a number of public works employees attended to talk to the students about what they do at work. Yoo, a road crew operator, discussed some of the things they do on a daily basis before Jonathan Reed explained how the water gets to the houses, covering tanks, pipes and mains. Chris Harding, a sewer plant operator, talked about how they work to “make the water cleaner.”

“We believe that the children would get more educational value from the election process and learning what a street sweeper does would benefit K-4 more than any segment of the community,” Eckhart said in his release.

Also attending the presentation were Howard Cunningham, borough council president; Tara Nicholas, borough council member; Eckhart; Idalisa Aquino from McNeill’s office; Gail Vivar from the office of state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th; Sara Baran from the office of state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-7th; and school faculty, staff and administration.

After the official name reveal inside the school, Reagan, the other finalists, her classmates and the school guests all went outside to see the name on the sweeper. Reagan, with assistance from Silin, pulled back the cover to reveal the decorative name, with her signature, on the front of the sweeper. Silin also added eyelashes above the headlights, which added more beauty to Sweeping Beauty.

“Catasauqua Area School District’s mission involves working with community partners to achieve educational excellence and promote lifelong learning,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christina Lutz-Doemling said in a release, noting this initiative came about through the district’s collaborative career awareness project. “Kim Flueso, K-12 career connections coordinator, works in collaboration with our administration, school counselors, teachers and community partners to facilitate valuable career-based K-12 learning experiences for our students similar to the collaborative career awareness project with the borough. We are very proud of our career education efforts and our employability skills focus and integration into the curriculum.”

Catasauqua residents, keep an eye out for Sweeping Beauty as she comes through your neighborhoods to keep the community clean.