New mobile training lab visits Washington Irving

The Durant School District’s new mobile Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education (STEM) bus visited Washington Irving Elementary School recently and the bus, which school officials say is a mobile training lab, will be used at all school sites.

The bus is the result of a two-year partnership between Durant Schools and PowerUp Edu utilizing federal dollars to fund the custom mobile classroom, according to Beth Bean, district curriculum director. It will be used to accelerate student learning that is happening in the classroom.

Fifteen teachers attended training for the mobile training lab last recently.

WI STEM teacher Jessica Boes spoke to the third graders when they got on the bus.

“We’re the first people to have this in the United States,” she said. “We came to Washington Irving. How amazing is that, and we have it for Durant Schools. Like, it’s one of a kind. It’s amazing. I’m super excited. Are you super excited?

“Yeah,” the children replied, excitedly.

Boes then introduced the students to Marty robots that have to be programmed with a computer.

“Are you ready to go try out Marty?” Boes asked, and the students replied with another “Yeah.”

Superintendent Duane Merideth said that rather than retrofitting an old bus, it was decided to build a brand-new one from the ground up that would fit the needs of the school district for a long time. The school district was able to use federal COVID dollars to fund it so it didn’t come out of any school budgets.

“We got to talking with a group, PowerUp out of South Carolina, and they had done some of these,” Merideth said. “Everyone that had done one had taken an old RV or an old bus and retrofitted it and so we got with our bus company and said, ‘Look, you want to be a part of this?’ They said, ‘You bet,’ so we built it from the ground up with them and with PowerUp, and they’ve got all kinds of equipment and things to put on the bus that they’ve used in other school districts.

“Nobody has done what we have done with a brand-new bus. The lady that came to do our training, she said this is a one of a kind.”

Beth Bean, director of curriculum for the Durant School District, agreed.

“We’re unique,” she said. “There have been other school districts that have had mobile STEM labs but they’ve retrofitted something and repurposed it.”

Bean said some of the things normally seen on an RV such as an awning, were placed on the bus. The bus can also be plugged in when parked at school sites. It also has air conditioners and a generator.

“Of course, it was also really important to us to be completely fully handicapped accessible,” Bean said. “We have the wheelchair ramp so any student that has any physical disabilities can also get on the bus. There’s curriculum on here and resources from pre-K to 12th grade so every student in our district can find something where they can really engage in their learning.”

She said the hope is to accelerate learning by student engagement.

“We all know COVID affected the education of our students and we just want to accelerate that learning and close any gaps that may be there,” Bean said. “So it’s pretty wide open. You can see these are Marty robots. They’re educational, institution only robots so a student just can’t go and buy a Marty. It’s all based on education.“ The bus also has drone pathways.

“Everyone of the pathways that we have result in some kind of certification for students,” Bean said. “So some of our older students, high school, middle school, if they do the entire pathway, that can result in some kind of certification. Since we have the aviation pathway in high school, we have some drones, and we have a flight pathway that students can get their 107 drone certification.”

The bus will also have 3-D printers, according to Bean, and she said the bus will pretty much have something for everyone.

“It’s just again, thinking about engaging the students and providing pathways of learning for each one even starting in pre-K,” Bean said.

She emphasized that the bus will provide hands-on technology training.

“It was also really important to us to partner with a company that provides not just resources or suggestions about what to put on the mobile STEM lab but they will partner with us in professional development for years to come,” Bean said. “Maggie Phillips was our head trainer and she is a professional development coordinator for PowerUp EDU and she will be back in our district in January and February. They’ve been a great partner along with our bus company.”

Merideth agreed the bus is a very exciting project for the school district.

“It’s very unique and you won’t find this anywhere close,” he said.

Bean said, “It’s been a project that’s been two and half years (in the making).”