Huyen Pham, a 7th grade student at the Northbrook Middle School in Atlanta, GA, has been selected
the winner of the 2020-21 National School Bus Safety Poster Contest, sponsored by the American
School Bus Council.
The theme for this year’s contest was “Be Safe – Know the Danger Zone”. The danger zone is an area
outside of the bus where children are in the most danger of being hit, either by another vehicle or their own bus. The danger zone extends at least 12 feet from the front bumper, 10 to 12 feet from the left and right sides of the bus and at least 12 feet behind the rear bumper of the school bus. In addition, the area to the left of the driver’s seat is always considered dangerous because of passing vehicles.
Pham’s artwork was selected best among entries from 13 different states. Her artwork will be showcased during this year’s National School Bus Safety Week, October 18-22, 2021.
Thousands of school districts in over 40 states typically participate in local and state-level competitions
to select artwork that depicts school bus safety-related themes and encourages and promotes school
bus safety. This year, the pandemic caused by Covid-19 disrupted many state and local contests. As a
result, the deadline for entries was extended from mid-September 2020 to the end of February 2021
with the goal of selecting division winners and the overall winner before the end of the 2020-21 school
year. But because school schedules were so significantly different than prior years, with many students
and teachers engaging entirely online, ASBC members decided to select one overall winner from posters
that were submitted by March 1, 2021; award $25 gift cards to every student who drew a poster that
was submitted by the deadline; and to include late entries for the 2021 contest in the 2022 contest in a
separate category. The State poster contest representative from any state that was unable to meet the
2021 poster contest deadline may contact info@americanschoolbuscouncil.org for additional
information.
ASBC members have also selected a theme for the 2021-2022 poster contest – “1 bus + 1 driver = a BIG Impact on Education”. Poster guidelines and contest rules can be found here.
Entries for the 2021-2022 National School Bus Safety poster contest may be submitted anytime between August 16, 2021 and April 1, 2022. Posters will be evaluated by a panel of judges, which will select winners in each of 5 divisions, as well as an overall winner, by May 1, 2022. The overall winning poster will be used to promote National School Bus Safety Week in October of 2022.
Please Note: The National School Bus Safety Poster Contest and National School Bus Safety Week are
two different events. Artwork created for and evaluated as part of the poster contest becomes the
theme for the subsequent National School Bus Safety Week. This annual event is held during the third
full week in October each year.
About ASBC: The American School Bus Council (ASBC) was formed in 2006 to educate parents, school
officials, lawmakers, and the public about the essential safety, environmental, and equal-access to
education benefits of the iconic yellow school bus. It is a coalition of the school transportation
community—including public and private transportation providers, school bus manufacturers and state officials responsible for pupil transportation. Council members are committed to providing safe,
effective, and efficient transportation for the more than 25 million schoolchildren who ride more than
480,000 school buses each day.
The council’s members include National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), National
Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), National School
Transportation Association (NSTA), Blue Bird Corp. of Fort Valley, Ga., IC Bus Corporation of Lisle, Ill., and Thomas Built Buses of High Point, N.C.