ST. LOUIS — Top school bus drivers representing 34 states and one Canadian province competed in the 40th Annual School Bus Driver International Safety Competition held here over the weekend.

The event, hosted by the National School Transportation Association (NSTA), began with a written test, and then the 109 contestants got behind the wheel to test their driving skills. They competed in one of three categories — Conventional, Transit or Small Bus.

The event culminated with an awards banquet and ceremony where the winners of the competition were announced. The first-place winners in each category received a yellow jacket.

The winners are:

Conventional
• First Place: Larry Hannon — Centennial School District, Warminster, Pa.
• Second Place: Michelle Schurz — First Student, Grand Junction, Colo.
• Third Place: Debra Kay L’Abbe — First Student, Wonder Lake, Ill.

Transit
• First Place: Mark Miller — Bellingham (Wash.) Public Schools
• Second Place: Tyler Reynolds — Virginia Beach (Va.) Public Schools
• Third Place: Tracy Brown — First Student, Grand Junction, Colo.

Small Bus
• First Place: Richard Hall — Floyd County Schools, Allen, Ky.
• Second Place: Danny Ridel — Marysville Joint Unified School District, Yuba City, Calif.
• Third Place: Janet Ruth Turner — Greater Albany (Ore.) Public Schools

Contestants’ scores will be posted on the NSTA Website by the end of this week. Contestants’ biographies can be found here.