Welding students at the Career Academy of Pella got their tools out to craft one of Iowa’s most famous faces ahead of the Iowa Caucus.

A miniature version of the Iowa State Fair butter cow is making an appearance on the Today Show Monday morning. Sheila Graham’s Welding Class partnered with Sarah Pratt, or the person better known for her responsibility in creating the Iowa State Fair’s Butter Cow, to make the small scale sculpture.

Students in Sheila Graham’s welding course carved the all-metal skeleton and a special sign this week. Pratt says the national media wanted a taste of Iowa culture.

“When you’re looking for that, you’re think about the Iowa State Fair of course, you think about the butter cow,” Pratt says. “It will be created out of butter, which I’ll start on Thursday, the underneath part is what we’re creating today.”

Senior Dalton DeBoer was active in the many different phases of construction.

“I helped kind of go over the design a little bit, give a little bit of my input,” he says. “I did a lot of grinding, making sure the parts were safe to handle, and I’ve been putting the blueprint down to cut out a “Today [Show]” sign.”

We have more about the students’ hand in building an Iowa icon on Let’s Talk Pella.