For one night they were the rock stars of Oakland.

As part of the Freedom Bus Project, local student artists were honored Friday by a host of Alameda County and Oakland dignitaries at the Oakland School of the Arts for their work showcasing Rosa Parks and the national Civil Rights Movement.

"This is great," said teenage student artist Devin, who attends Butler Academic Center. "I got to talk to the mayor, people are taking our photos. It's cool, you know?"

Students will now see their winning submissions displayed in more than 200 AC Transit buses for a month starting in April.

Student artwork from the Berkeley High School Arts and Humanities Academy also will be wrapped around the official AC Transit Freedom Bus.

Throughout the evening, the students felt the love of the East Bay community as more than 100 people applauded their efforts. Local dignitaries on hand included Oakland Mayor Jean Quan; Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan; Joel B. Young, AC Transit board director; and David Muhammad, the new chief of the Alameda County Probation Department.

The four official winning entries include students from Hayward, San Leandro and 22 students from Butler Academic Center at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center.

Students received various certificates from state and local officials praising their efforts, video cameras were pointed at them all night and cell phone cameras flashed constantly. Many students shyly poised for family photos and answered questions from reporters.

"I just wanted to show how hard it was for people back then," said competition winner Isaiah Aguirre, a Hayward fourth grader. "They [Civil Rights leaders] really inspired me because they put in a lot of work to make changes happen."

Aminah Adcock, mother of Yahya, who worked on the Butler Academic art piece, said she couldn't be more proud of her son.

"It also means a lot to me," she said. "It feels good to see him involved in something that's bigger than him. Just looking at the look on his face. I can tell that he's empowered and as a mother, it feels really good to see that."

The Freedom Bus Project brought together generations to reflect on the challenges ahead and create art to honor the brave souls from not so long ago. Bay Area civil rights veterans also were on hand to congratulate the students.

"Hopefully what they saw today will inspire them  to continue taking part in social justice projects," local civil rights veteran Wazir Peacock said.

Hard work went into pulling together the Freedom Bus Project, which has been in place for just under a year as a program to help students understand the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the brave work of Rosa Parks and other important leaders.

"The Freedom Bus Project shows that one person really can make a difference," said the project's Executive Director Dria Fearn. "It's very special to me."

Fearn began working as a volunteer about nine months ago, raising money through private donations to pull together the project that she believes is desperately needed.

Support for the project comes from AC Transit, the Alameda County Office of Education and private donors like Clorox, Comcast and Clear Channel. Titan Worldwide donated the production and installation of the bus wrap onto the exterior of the AC Transit Freedom Bus.

"Right now there is a gap in education and many students are not aware of the legacy of the civil rights movement," she said.

"Everything just sort of came together to make this happen," she said. "We just got really lucky."