Conference dispatch: postcards from Portland

The school bus industry convened in Portland, Ore., recently for the annual NAPT and NASDPTS conferences. The events were full of fascinating speakers, inspiring awards presentations and entertaining sights and activities. Here's a look at what we SBF editors captured with our cameras.


Brilliant autumn colors were on display throughout the leafy city. Visible through the trees here is one of the spires of the convention center.


Deborah Lincoln, Oregon’s former state pupil transportation director, gave NASDPTS attendees an overview of the conference’s host state. Shown on the screen is Oregon’s tallest waterfall, the spectacular Multnomah Falls.


Among the panelists in NAPT’s discussion on bullying was Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte (left), who has mild cerebral palsy. At right is Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.


Lenore Skenazy, founder of Free-Range Kids, gave an energetic and thought-provoking speech at the NASDPTS conference. She advocated teaching our children the skills and responsibility to be more independent, which she said may include allowing them to walk to school or the school bus stop on their own.


As IC Bus unveiled its new Type A at a special event during the NAPT conference, a marching band and cheerleaders from a local school sprang from the bus.


I got a chance to sit down and talk with Chancellor Coger, winner of the Thomas Built Buses Children's Choice essay contest, and his bus driver, Lester LeMasters, who came up with a plan to keep Chancellor from being bullied. The second-grader talked about how he wants to be an ice hockey player when he grows up.

For more photos from the 2010 NAPT Summit, check out the new slide show in our Photo Gallery.

See you next year in Cincinnati.

— Thomas McMahon, Executive Editor