The American School Bus Council (ASBC) has kicked off its annual Love the Bus campaign to promote the value of the yellow school bus across the nation.

ASBC is encouraging school districts and school bus contractors to hold Love the Bus celebrations throughout February. Examples of events from past years include bus-focused school assemblies, meals to thank school bus drivers, appearances by education and transportation dignitaries, and even a Love the Bus hockey night.

ASBC offers materials that can be downloaded for free to help in celebrating Love the Bus.

Also, ASBC is conducting a contest on social media this year. Using the tag #LoveTheBus on Facebook or Twitter, school bus operations can share stories, videos, and photos showing how they observe Love the Bus. Based on the number of likes and how the posts recognize the meaning of Love the Bus, ASBC will award Visa gift cards to the top three selected posts: $250 for first, $150 for second, and $100 for third.

School bus operations can also submit a story to ASBC about a driver or other school transportation staff member to recognize their efforts in supporting student safety. The council will highlight stories on the ASBC website.

As another component of this year’s campaign, ASBC is inviting operations to share the most creative and unique ways that they "Love the Bus" by filling out this nomination from. The council will choose the top three and will recognize them on its website in March.