Winning entries in the 17th edition of School Bus Fleet’s Photo Contest reflect striking landscapes and the big yellow bus in nearly all seasons. These shots were selected from 66 total entries by SBF staff.
PHOTOS: School Bus Fleet's 2021 Photo Contest
Winner: Benjamin Vogt, a school bus driver for Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in Placentia, California, captured this stunning sunset reflecting in the windows of one of the district’s Blue Bird school buses.
Winner: After an afternoon thunderstorm, Russell Adams, a bus driver for Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools, told School Bus Fleet his district’s bus lot was covered with puddles. Since he loves a good reflection photo (like his winning shot from last year’s contest), Adams says he took several photos before capturing this image, which he titled, “The Giant.”
Honorable Mention: While prepping buses for the summer season, Clayton Randolph, the assistant director of transportation for North Montgomery Community School Corp. in Crawfordsville, Indiana, stopped in his tracks to take this close-up shot of one of the district’s gasoline buses.
Honorable Mention: Cheryl Johnson, the transportation director for Harris County (Ga.) School District, shared this photo of a 2020 Blue Bird bus traveling along Kings Gap Road under the State Hwy 190 Bridge, also known as “The Rock Bridge,” in Harris County, Georgia.
Also Noteworthy: Shown here is "The Cool Bus," also nicknamed “Piper” by its owner, Ashley DeMoss, a bus attendant for Dean Transportation in Eastpointe, Michigan. Since she drives Piper for personal use, DeMoss told SBF that she painted the bus her favorite shade of blue.
Also Noteworthy: Angela Giannavola, a school bus driver for GST Transport Corp. in Washington, New Jersey, captured this spring sunrise during a break between routes in March.
Also Noteworthy: Jerene Jones, a transportation manager for Catoosa County (Ga.) Public Schools, snapped this photo of one of the district's buses “all masked up and ready to roll” for the 2020-21 school year. Jones told SBF that he included this photo in the transportation department’s annual newsletter to show that despite all the obstacles the team faced during the pandemic, they still managed to have a safe school year.
Winner: As J.J. Bellemare of Bryan County (Ga.) Schools, was washing his school bus back in April, he was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the rainbow’s reflection on the bus’s service door. He told SBF that the rainbow embodies the climate of hospitality, serenity, and safety that prevails on his routes.
Honorable Mention: Ernie Ontiveros, the chief safety officer for Tempe (Ariz.) Elementary School District, told SBF that this 2016 Thomas Built Buses school bus was parked perfectly in front of a dandelion after dropping students off one late October afternoon.
Honorable Mention: There’s snow days, and then there’s ice days, according to Bert Thoreson, a lead mechanic for Lakeland School District #272 in Rathdrum, Idaho. While schools were closed due to severe weather last winter, Thoreson snapped this photo of one of the district’s buses fringed with icicles.
Also Noteworthy: Javier Rodriguez, the director of maintenance, operations, and transportation for Garden Grove (Calif.) Unified School District, took this photo during the district’s annual bus wash and wax event, in which the transportation staff cleans all 123 of the district’s buses ahead of the start of the new school year.
Also Noteworthy: Amy Coleman, who, along with her husband, is a former driver for Student Transportation of America in New Hampshire, told SBF that she was fascinated by the look of this bus as it was being towed.
Also Noteworthy: Charles S. Marie Jr., a driver for Vidor (Texas) Independent School District, called this shot “Beauty Beyond the Storm,” as he noted the sun peaking through the dark clouds after a stormy night.
Also Noteworthy: Daniel Barone, the director of transportation services for Palm Beach Maritime Academy in Lantana, Florida, snapped this photo in September 2019 as the school’s bus drivers delivered donated supplies from students and their families to go to the Bahamas for relief after Hurricane Dorian.
Also Noteworthy: Josh Schiffler of Crosby-Ironton Transportation Inc., which he co-owns with his wife Tasha, captured this 2020 Blue Bird propane school bus as it was parked at the company’s office located in Crosby, Minnesota. Schiffler told SBF that he had been watching the leaves change and couldn’t resist taking a shot of the near matching colors.
Also Noteworthy: Robert Everett, a driver steward for First Student in Nashua, New Hampshire, took this photo last fall while exploring Benton, Maine. Everett told SBF that he was temporarily assigned to drive for First Student’s location in Augusta, Maine, due to the driver shortage made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.