Jesse Hill and Myra Walstead were awarded the first place trophy at a banquet honoring all participants in the 16th Special Needs Team Safety Roadeo held Saturday in Frisco, Texas, as part of the 22nd Transporting Students with Special Needs and Preschoolers National Conference (TSD).

The event was sponsored by Q'Straint and Sure-Lok and is co-owned and co-managed by STN Media Group, owner of School Transportation News, and NAPT.

The duo of Hill and Walstead from Academy School District in Colorado Springs, Colo., tallied 957 points, or 96 percent of the 1,002 total points possible. A total of 16 teams from 11 teams were judged via written exam and a behind-the-wheel serpentine course conducted at nearby Frisco ISD. The skills training and competition also included emergency-evacuation, wheelchair-securement and child-passenger safety restraint training on Friday and the three-hour Sunday morning general session "Punished, Protected or Prisoner: Restraint Considerations in Law, Operations and Practice."

Rhonda Fidler and Susan Nulph of Cherokee County Schools in Marietta, Ga., came in second place with 939 points, followed by Robelyn Watson and Cynthia Wright of San Diego Unified School District with 871 points. The 13 other teams were also recognized for their completion in the course, which included pre-checks of the bus, loading and unloading occupied wheelchairs, timed emergency evacuations and managing challenging student behavior, all while maneuvering through a road course. The teams also had to properly stop at simulated railroad crossings as well as back up into a confined space.

Also during the roadeo banquet held at the Embassy Suites Frisco-Dallas, Texas state trooper Lonny Haschel provided a humorous address to participants and judges about the importance of school bus safety, especially the need to maintain proper following distances behind other vehicles. Haschel, a sergeant in the Texas Highway Patrol's Media and Communications Unit, is also a certified child passenger safety technician (CPST) and a trainer during Sunday's eight-hour "Child Passenger Safety Restraint Systems on School Buses," part of NHTSA's 40-hour national CPST certification.

Roadeo coordinator Cheryl Wolf presented a plaque of recognition to Doug Becker, director of transportation at Frisco ISD, for his department's assistance in providing the Roadeo facility, buses and equipment. The school district also provide school-bus shuttle service for participants, judges and observers to and from the conference hotel.

The TSD Conference runs until noon on Wednesday and includes a half-day trade show on Monday. All told, the conference features more than three dozen workshops and presentations..