BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Bus drivers from all across the state competed in the annual School Transportation Association of Indiana’s (STAI’s) School Bus Safety Competition on Saturday.

This year’s competition, which took place at Brownsburg East Middle School, was designed to recognize excellence in school bus drivers and to give them the opportunity to demonstrate the skills and responsible performance their job demands.

The general education competition was broken into three segments: a pre-trip inspection, a written test, and a skills test. The pre-trip event was scored as one event, and the written and skills test were combined.

The top winner of the written and skills tests gets the opportunity to represent Indiana at the International Safety Competition, which will be held July 17 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The special-needs competition was similar to that of the general education competition, but with some added events. As in the real world, during the special-needs driving course, the driver and attendant also had to contend with the distractions of managing two “students,” which were played by a doll and a volunteer, with emotional disabilities. The students were picked up at the start of the course and dropped off at the end. The special-needs bus driver and attendant also had to demonstrate car seat securement; handling of an emergency event; wheelchair loading; and wheelchair securement.

The top winning team (driver and attendant) gets a chance to represent Indiana at the National Special Needs Team Safety Roadeo during the TSD Conference and Trade Show. The conference will be held March 17 to 22, 2017, in Dallas/Frisco, Texas.

A total of 100 bus drivers and bus attendants, representing over 35 school corporations from around the state of Indiana, competed in this event. Another 100 volunteers worked on the Safety Competition.

Competition awards went to:

General Education
•    1st place: Robin Hollcraft, Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Indianapolis
•    2nd place: Stephen Ogden, Brownsburg Community School Corp., Brownsburg
•    3rd place: Pam LaFollette, Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Indianapolis

General Education Team
•    1st place: Robin Hollcraft, Pam LaFollette, and Brandon Johnson, Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Indianapolis
•    2nd place: Stephen Ogden, Deb Amburgy, and Crystal Myers, Brownsburg Community School Corp., Brownsburg
•    3rd place: Tammy Davis, Marty Moss, and Tina Overton, Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Indianapolis

Special Needs
•    1st place: Anna Webb and Shari Fulner, Brownsburg Community School Corp., Brownsburg
•    2nd place: James Caylor and Sharon Lewis, Franklin Township Community School Corp., Indianapolis
•    3rd place: Audrey Myers and Joe Newlin, Monroe County Community School Corp., Bloomington

Rookie of the Year
•    Stephen Ogden, Brownsburg Community School Corp., Brownsburg