Texas Sixth Grader Wins National School Bus Safety Poster Contest

September 1, 2026

A sixth-grade student from Prosper, Texas was named the overall national winner of the 2026 National School Bus Safety Poster Contest for artwork illustrating this year’s theme, “Safe Rides, Everyday Heroes.”

The National Association for Pupil Transportation announced that Sai Darshana Yekolu, a student at Moseley Middle School, received the contest’s highest honor after her entry advanced through state-level competition. Her artwork will be featured during National School Bus Safety Week, scheduled for Oct. 19-23.

Judges representing NAPT, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, and the National School Transportation Association evaluated the national entries. Posters were judged on their safety impact, originality, artistic quality, and visual effectiveness. The theme was, “Safe Rides, Everyday Heroes.”

Darshana-Yekolu also won first place in Division 3, which includes students in grades six through eight. Aashna Tandon of Harris Road Middle School in Concord, North Carolina, placed second. Kathleen Ashcraft of Shady Spring Middle School in Shady Spring, West Virginia, placed third.

Other first-place recipients were Alston Lai of Anne Sullivan Elementary School in Sugar Land, Texas, in the kindergarten-through-second-grade division; Maria Montero of JM Hill Elementary in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in the grades three-through-five division; Jamal Moore of Rockwall-Heath High School in Heath, Texas, in the special education division; and Olivia Brown of Burlington County Institute of Technology Westampton in Westampton, New Jersey, in the computer-aided drawing division.

Second- and third-place honorees represented schools in Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

“Every one of these posters represents more than artistic talent. They represent students thinking about what school bus safety means to them and then sharing that message with the people around them,” said Molly McGee Hewitt, NAPT executive director and CEO.

Hewitt also thanked the teachers, transportation professionals, state associations, families, and communities that provide students with opportunities to participate.

Students enter the contest through local and state competitions, with qualifying artwork advancing to national judging. NAPT said the process brings school bus safety discussions into classrooms while allowing student-created messages to reach communities across the country. The winning entries are also intended to encourage safer practices around school buses.

NAPT is seeking to strengthen the connection between local, state and national participation through its newly formed Strategic Initiatives Committee. Dawnett Wright, transportation director at Peninsula School District in Washington and NAPT Region 5 director, chairs the committee.

“National initiatives are strongest when they are brought to life in our states and local communities,” Wright said, calling the poster contest an example of how a classroom project can become part of a national safety message.

Wright said the committee will work to create more opportunities for states to participate in the poster contest, Love the Bus Month in February and National School Bus Safety Week, observed during the third full week of October.

The annual safety week is a public education initiative involving students, parents, educators, motorists, school bus operators, administrators, and other partners. It promotes safe behavior on and around school buses.

NAPT plans to announce the theme and full guidelines for the 2027 contest following NAPT ACTS this fall. The drawing period is expected to begin in November, allowing students across North America time to participate despite differing school calendars.