Second Place: Mila Holland, 2nd grade.

Third Place: Jake Castleberry, Kindergarten.

Staff Reports

HAHIRA — School bus drivers are unsung heroes of the community. Not only do they ensure the safety of children as they travel to and from school, they are often the first and last person many children see in their school day. Students from Hahira Elementary School recognized these unsung heroes in the Hahira Honeybee Festival Poster Contest. This year’s theme “School Bus Drivers: Transporting Our Future” offered students a chance to showcase their creativity while paying tribute to these essential workers.

While Hurricane Helene’s impact unfortunately led to the cancellation of the Honeybee Festival, the poster contest was completed in time, allowing students’ efforts to be recognized, according to a press release from Hahira Elementary School.

Most of the poster entries featured the iconic yellow school bus, but the winners stood out for their creativity and thoughtfulness. The first place winner, third grader Rylin Cooper, portrayed a school bus traveling along a road that symbolized a journey through life; flaps reveal a student’s progression through Hahira Elementary School to Hahira Middle School, Lowndes High School and beyond! Second place winner, Mila Holland, a second grader, shaped her yellow poster into an eye-catching school bus filled with an array of passengers. And kindergartener Jake Castleberry, the third place winner, put a personal spin on his artwork by including pictures of himself and his cherished bus driver in the windows of his hand-drawn school bus.

Beyond the visuals, several poster entries featured clever slogans that reflected the students’ gratitude for their bus drivers. One student depicted a school bus along a winding road through town, accompanied by the phrase, “Bus Drivers go the Extra Mile.” Another playful poster features a slogan that reads “We Like the Way You Roll!!!”

The winning posters are on display this week at the Hahira Library, where the public can view the students’ tributes to school bus drivers.