Joanne Cowan, a Chester County school bus driver for Krapf School Bus, placed second out of nearly 50 drivers in Pennsylvania's 47th State School Bus Driver Safety Competition.
Cowan earned the runner-up spot in the conventional bus category after completing a written examination and a closed-course driving test in June at Bald Eagle Area High School in Bellefonte, Centre County, as first reported by MyChesCo.
Angela Martin of Brightbill Transport in Lancaster County won first place. Pamela Little of Krise Transportation in Berks County finished third.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Pennsylvania State Police honored Cowan and the other winners at a ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Hershey Antique Automobile Museum. The event fell during School Bus Safety Week, which Gov. Josh Shapiro designated for Oct. 19-23.
"School Bus Safety Week gives everyone an opportunity to pause and realize just how much our own actions behind the wheel can affect innocent, young lives," said Dios Arroyo, PennDOT's director of driver licensing.
The competition's theme was "Safe Rides – Everyday Heroes."
Krapf School Bus is one of two contracted carriers that provide bus service for the West Chester Area School District. According to the district's most recently published transportation figures, the department covers 75 square miles daily for more than 15,000 students across 17 public schools and 127 non-public and charter schools. Krapf and On the Go Kids, Inc. operate the buses while the district manages routing.
Krapf, founded in 1942, operates across three states and serves multiple Chester County school districts, according to the company's website.
School buses transport more than 1.4 million Pennsylvania students each day, according to PennDOT.
The Hershey ceremony also recognized 10 students whose artwork was selected from 92 entries in the 2026 School Bus Safety Poster Contest. Two Pennsylvania students earned national recognition in the poster contest held in August: Maria Montero of J.M. Hill Elementary School in Monroe County won first place nationally in grades 3-5, and Bilal Shayan of Bradford Woods Elementary School in Allegheny County placed second nationally in kindergarten through second grade.
Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Zeina Black, a supervisor in the agency's Commercial Vehicle Safety Division, said bus drivers are in the public eye every day ensuring children's safety as they travel to and from school.
PennDOT and state police presented the student poster winners with certificates and trophies at the ceremony.
