WAYNE -- As residents rededicated the town's war memorial and remembered those who died in wars, Maranacook Community School Bus No. 8, which was parked nearby on Monday, commemorated a different group of people, children who ride the bus to and from school each day.

Linda Nichols Phillips, an art teacher at Maranacook Middle School, captured images of those waiting for the bus and getting on and off the bus.

The black-and-white photographs of her February bus rides were hung from paper clips on windows and were propped in the red-leather bench seats on the bright yellow, Bluebird bus.

On Monday, the bus interior was cool, with a slight breeze coming in through the partially open tinted windows and through the vents at the top of the bus. It was quiet too, except for the comments of children as they found their own photo on display, or adults reminiscing about their days on the bus.

Mira Moreau, 11, admired a photo of herself. In it, the fifth-grader carried a suitcase containing her clarinet, an L.L. Bean bag in her other hand and wore a backpack.

The photographed Mira had longer hair than the girl on the bus.

"I'm definitely taking art next year," she said, as she toured the bus.

Tyler Banden, a freshman at Maranacook High School, recognized many of the riders, including Mason McDonald, photographed wearing a foam ring that held an inflated ball to his head.

Some photos showed the children -- some with slight gap-toothed smiles -- as they boarded the bus and aimed for their favorite seats or their friends.

Banden particularly liked the photo of bus driver Gaeton English.

"Our bus driver is amazing," Tyler said. "He can be strict when he wants to, but he's really relaxed."

English also teaches music and band in the Maranacook school system.

He and Nichols Phillips are part of the district's integrated arts team.

Nichols Phillips wants to make her display a little more permanent.

"What I'm hoping to do is get them in a gallery," she said. "I need a grant to pay for framing."

Nichols Phillips, who lives in North Monmouth, did the project as part of her thesis for a master's degree from Lesley University, Boston, which she received May 16.

"I have always done black and white photography," Nichols Phillips said. She said she used a digital camera to capture the bus rider images because of the time crunch of completing her work.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com