Students transform bus into mobile classroom

Students at Lumpkin County High School who are learning to be teachers have designed their own way to gain experience with educating young learners.
And it has four wheels.
Buses are nothing new at school.
But one particular bus has been newly remodeled to be a space where kids can enjoy a learning experience.
What’s more, the work was almost all done by the students themselves.
Instructor Erin Endicott, who leads the Teaching as a Profession class, said they had the chance to transform a recently de-commissioned bus into a mobile classroom.
“For future educators we wanted to do something that would benefit the community,” Endicott said.
That opportunity came in the form of a L4GA literacy grant, which paid for the entire project.
Endicott said the students in her classes completed the transformation along with some help from the automotive classes at the high school.
“It’s designed for children in Pre-K and under,” Endicott said, “to reach them before they get into the school system.”
She said her students who are in the final class of their practicum will be going out into the community to host events on the bus.
The high school students gain valuable experience, as they are responsible for the curriculum of the lessons.
Endicott said Jason Lemley got the idea for the project after a trip to Gilmer County to see a similar bus that had been transformed.
She was struck by the positive impact that the students there were able to make on 3-year-olds who spoke very little English, but who still enjoyed the interaction and learning.
After finding out the grant would allow the Lumpkin classes to construct a similar bus, she began organizing the work last school year.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

LCHS senior Makayla Brooks said she was able to help her classmates with transforming the flooring in the bus, since she had learned the skill while working on her family’s house.
Senior Brittanie Cooper said the entire project was a long process, but they are happy it turned out well.
Cooper said she likes being able to ease into the world of teaching with a tool like this.
“We can get more of an understanding of how to work with the children before we go into the classroom,” she said.
Sophomore Kaden Dillon said the design of the inside of the bus is based on the category of skills they picked for the children.
“We want it to be fun for the kids who are preschool age,” Dillon said.
She said that as a sophomore, she will be able to appreciate the project even more next year after gaining some experience working with young children.
Brooks added that lessons should be about 30 minutes to an hour.
“It’s a cool learning experience for us,” Brooks said “You learn a lot by teaching children. Each kid is defining their own person.”
Cooper, who is currently an intern in a Cottrell Elementary classroom, said they plan to take the mobile classroom out on location two to three days a week.
Brooks, who also interns in a classroom as part of their senior studies, said they even designed an area for babies, so they can help any pre-school age children learn new skills.

LOOKING AHEAD

Endicott said she hopes this can eventually be a large-scope endeavor that encompasses the entire LCHS College & Career Academy.
She said other classes that could get involved in on-location events are agriculture classes, healthcare classes and culinary classes, and possibly others.
“It’s a win—win—win for everyone involved with this project,” she said.
In order to help young children leave with learning material, they have been given donations of thousands of books.  
The hope is, Endicott said, that every child who comes to the mobile classroom can leave with their own new book.
Plus, the project is able to give her high school students a much faster learning experience thanks to the interactions it offers them.