JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — In Jefferson County, students get a hands-on chance to learn outside of the classroom. It's thanks to a new mobile "learning lab."
The school district is encouraging interest in science, technology, engineering, art and math — or STEAM. At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, the new "STEAM bus" rolled out and opened for booking with Jefferson County Schools.
Kim McCoig, the library media specialist at Mount Horeb Elementary School, says the bus was Superintendent Tommy Arnold's brainchild.
"With his help, we have the bus," McCoig said. "He made sure we had what we needed on the bus."
There are plenty of books, interactive learning tools and models available for kids to use when a teacher books the bus for their class. It's a rolling resource on four wheels. The bus has been gutted of its seats and is an open space where tables can be set up and accommodated to whatever lesson is being taught.
With every step on the bus, the kids' love for learning grows. It's like a sort of field trip in the middle of the school day.
"It's just a fabulous tool that we can use," McCoig said. "[Teachers] may have an experiment, there may be something they want to cover [with] math or science. They have extra books that will cover that topic and resources."
In this age of technology, McCoig wants the learning lab to encourage a love of reading and physical books.
"I want there always to be a library, and I don't want it to be phased out," McCoig said.
Overall, the bus puts interactive activities in the driver's seat, and idle learning in the rearview. It's a win for discovery in this rural school district.
McCoig says she would love to see the district introduce another bus in the future to keep encouraging interactive learning.