Students paint buses, themselves in preparation for demo derby
Beth-Center students Hannah Foutz, left, Penny Lee, center, and Paige Spencer painted more than old school buses.
Band students from area school districts descended on the Washington County Fairgrounds Wednesday to paint old school buses destined for the school bus demolition derby at the fair. Students from each school painted a bus in a variety of colors before painting each other.
Peters Township High School senior Caroline Langley, left, uses her artistic talent to paint Yoda on the hood of a school bus with the assistance of senior Amanda Smith.
Charleroi High School student Casey Diess, covered in paint, uses a roller to add more to his shoes.
Bethlehem-Center sophomore Tori Gilpin stencils a bus after a fellow student hand-painted her shorts.
Washington County Fairgrounds will find itself covered in “Star Wars”-themed school bus scraps tonight, thanks to the annual School Bus Demolition Derby.
Last Wednesday, to prepare for the derby, students from the marching bands of 12 Washington County high schools – McGuffey, Bethlehem-Center, Avella, Peters Township, Burgettstown, Trinity, Fort Cherry, California, Chartiers-Houston, Ringgold, Charleroi and Bentworth – met at the fairgrounds to paint their school buses, motivated by some friendly competition.
Each school had only an hour to paint an entire bus in the previously determined theme, chosen by Avella High School, last year’s winner.
“These kids will have more paint on them than they will the school buses. They’re totally covered,” Wayne Hunnell, secretary of Washington County Fair Board, said during the Aug. 10 proceedings. “They have the most fun, I think, this night.”
In addition to bragging rights and the opportunity to choose next year’s theme, winners of the painting portion of the competition receive a $100 prize for their school. Winners of the demolition derby receive a $500 prize.
The buses for the derby are either donated by school districts or churches, or are purchased by Hunnell at 422 Auto and Bus Auction in Slippery Rock. The names of drivers who volunteer for the event are drawn out of a hat by each school, with the winners picking first.
This year, the Avella students successfully defended their decorating title. Their bus was painted black with lighter paint splattered over it to represent space, and a montage of characters, including Yoda and R2-D2, were featured on the sides.
The kids mostly have free rein over their designs, but they do have to follow a few regulations. The paint has to be water-based, and each school is limited in the amount of gallons its students are allowed to bring. There are deductions for any school that paints inside the bus, to avoid endangering the driver, and each school is required to feature its name on the side of the bus.
Tracy Morgan, mother of Danielle Morgan, a seventh-grader in Bethlehem-Center School District, said she likes the derby because her daughter is “getting to have some fun, because band camp is a lot of work and she’s very stressed out.” This is Danielle’s first year in the marching band, as Beth-Center allows seventh-graders to join.
At the derby, each of the chosen drivers will navigate his or her bus in a specially made arena at the fairgrounds. Band members of each school will be able to watch and cheer on their drivers as they try to get their buses out in one piece and earn the $500 prize.
“I love seeing the students’ ideas really come to life on the bus,” said Lorne Hyskell, Peters Township marching band director. “I’m kind of taking a step back and letting the students get their ideas out and just run with it and be as creative as they can be.”
Hyskell said the painting also is a great team-building activity for the students, as they have to work together to complete their buses in time.
The school bus demolition derby will take place at 8 tonight at the Washington County Fairgrounds grandstand.