Buster the School Bus has taught important safety lessons to countless schoolchildren across the nation. But Robbie Ward (pictured above), an autistic second-grader from North Carolina, was particularly inspired: After seeing the remote-controlled robot in a school assembly, Robbie created a model of Buster out of Legos.

As part of the Love the Bus celebrations in February, Perquimans Central School in Winfall, N.C., held a school bus safety assembly featuring Buster, county fire and rescue personnel, and school administrators.

Robbie was eager to see Buster even before the event; he talked about it with teachers and classmates. During the assembly, Buster spoke with the students as they prepared to board and ride a school bus. Once the bus drill was over and the kids had gone back to class, Robbie maintained his excitement.

When he got the opportunity, Robbie went to work recreating the beloved robotic bus — as well as its remote control — with Legos. After about 10 minutes, Robbie had finished his masterpiece.

As you might expect, Robbie creates other replicas out of Legos. His teacher says that he often will just glance at a photo and then build a model in about 10 minutes.

He did just that when he saw a picture of the historic Newbold-White House, the oldest brick house in North Carolina (built in 1730), and quickly made a colorful representation of it.

When Robbie was recently asked what he would build next, he thought about it for a moment and then said, “I should really build WALL-E.” He then proceeded to recreate the Disney/Pixar robot, using more than 50 blocks and clocking in at under five minutes.

— Thomas McMahon, Executive Editor