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Poplar Bluff School District

Achieving Excellence Through Learning: Every Child, Every Hour, Every Day

November 5, 2026

Poplar Bluff student wins statewide poster competition on bus safety

Aubree Bennett, PBHS freshman, was presented with a check for being named Missouri's overall winner in a bus safety competition on Monday, Oct. 26. Also pictured are (right) Mark Henry, MOAPT executive director, and Jon McKinney, R-I director of student s

A Poplar Bluff High School freshman has been awarded $500 in a statewide competition for creating the best poster on bus safety among students in grades K-12 across five separate divisions.

Aubree Bennett was named the overall winner of the Missouri Association for Pupil Transportation school bus safety contest on Monday, Oct. 26, after securing first place out of over 50 poster submissions for grades 6-8 at the end of last school year.

“The idea is to take the theme and display it in a catchy way for kids, and we felt unanimously that she took the message and made it mesh,” said MOAPT Executive Director Keith Henry, who traveled from Columbia to hand deliver the monetary reward. “That’s what she nailed, the simplicity – and the artistry of the bus.”

Although Missouri did not top the national competition this year, Henry said: “It's ours, and we’re happy and proud of it.” The hand-drawn poster was evaluated by a committee from various regions of the state utilizing a blind scoring system prior to the MOAPT conference in July, he noted. In addition to grade spans, there was a separate category for computer-aided drawings.

The artwork, which Aubree created in Project Lead the Way design and modeling as an eighth grader, reflects the 2026 theme, ‘Safe Rides, Everyday Heroes,’ and illustrates core bus safety rules reminding students to keep a safe distance from the curb, wait for a full stop before boarding, remain seated facing forward and scan for vehicles when exiting.

“That’s a lot of money,” Aubree remarked, indicating she will likely put it toward her extensive LEGO collection. She is currently riding a bus from school until her sister obtains her driver's license, she said. Aubree’s former teacher, Jodie Berry, recalled selecting the top six designs from her class alongside colleagues, after which the Transportation Department treated the winning students to Taco Bell. Eugene Field also participated, and Alynna Pixley, now in third grade, was chosen as the building-level contest winner.

While the bus safety contest has been running for decades, Missouri ramped up its involvement in recent years by boosting monetary prizes through membership dues and sponsorships, according to Henry. PBHS alumni Bryden Fuemmeler and Jasmin Martinez-Peinado previously won $500 for creating a radio commercial highlighting stop-arm violations.

Just in time for the start of the 2026-27 school year, a new school bus law was enacted, significantly increasing penalties for Missouri drivers who fail to stop for school buses when their stop arms are extended and red lights are flashing. The announcement of the contest results coincides with National School Bus Safety Week to raise awareness, according to Jon McKinney, R-I director of student services, who also serves as the Region VI director for MOAPT.

“We give more rides per day than any other entity combined – Amtrak, planes, Greyhound, city bus,” Henry stated. “When it comes to the big yellow school bus, we’re the biggest transporter in the country.”

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Cutline: Aubree Bennett, PBHS freshman, was presented with a check for being named Missouri's overall winner in a bus safety competition on Monday, Oct. 26. Also pictured are (right) Mark Henry, MOAPT executive director, and Jon McKinney, R-I director of student services.