BARNEGAT – A retired school bus has found an exciting second life, transformed into a mobile science classroom where students can explore, experiment and learn.
The Barnegat Township School District recently unveiled its new STEM Bus at Cecil S. Collins Elementary School, where Jessica Fiore’s first-grade class had the honor of launching the district’s newest learning initiative.
“The beautiful thing about this was this bus had to be decommissioned because it no longer met the standards to transport students every day,” Transportation Director Lisa Vargas said. “It’s still super safe.”
Fiore’s students gathered outside the brightly colored bus, eager to become the first participants in the district’s newest educational program. As they waited for the lesson to begin, many pointed to the artwork covering the vehicle and chatted excitedly with classmates.
The eye-catching appearance comes courtesy of Barnegat High School junior Sophia Dellova, whose artwork wraps the vehicle in images of planets, laboratory equipment, scientific symbols, inventions and discoveries. Margaret Reilley, the district’s supervisor of English language arts, social studies and visual and performing arts, worked with the high school art department to bring the student-designed concept to life.
Before the lesson began, District Supervisor of Science, Technology and STEM Nora Green addressed a group of educators, administrators and staff members. Wearing a dress decorated with planets, Green outlined the day’s inaugural lesson and explained how the curriculum was designed to align with Next Generation Science Standards for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
“We’re going to do a cute, quick little video, go over some vocabulary words, and then they get to do the hands-on part,” Green said. “We’re going to explode some fun stuff.”
The educators gathered nearby appeared just as eager as the students to see how the district’s newest learning initiative would be received by its first participants. When Fiore’s students arrived, they lined up outside the STEM Bus, chatting with one another and craning their necks to get a better look at the colorful vehicle.
Green began the lesson by introducing vocabulary words including volcano, magma, lava, crater, ash, gases, eruption, and dormant volcanoes. The students enthusiastically repeated the words and eagerly answered questions as they learned how volcanoes form and what causes eruptions.
“My favorite word is eruption,” Green told the class. “Today we’re going to learn about volcanoes, and we’re going to explode them.”
That announcement drew smiles and excited reactions throughout the group.
Unlike a traditional classroom lesson, the STEM Bus served as both a staging area and a learning tool. Students entered the bus in small groups to collect their materials, including clay volcanoes and small dinosaur figures. They then moved to tables set up outside, where the hands-on portion of the lesson took place within the shadow of the brightly painted bus.
Following Green’s instructions step-by-step, the students molded clay around their volcanoes, creating mountains and landscapes for their prehistoric scenes. Once their projects were assembled, they carefully added baking soda, dish soap and red food coloring to the crater at the top.
Then came the final ingredient: vinegar. As the liquid was poured into the volcanoes, the chemical reaction began. Red foam bubbled up and spilled over the sides, creating miniature eruptions that sent students into fits of laughter and excitement.
One student leaned forward intently as his volcano began to bubble. His eyes never left the crater as the red foam flowed down the sides of the mountain and around the tiny dinosaurs below. Around him, classmates pointed excitedly and compared their eruptions, turning the lesson into exactly the type of hands-on exploration district officials envisioned when they created the program.
How It All Came Together
The STEM Bus is the result of months of planning and collaboration among district staff members. Director of Special Projects Daniel Gundersen coordinated the effort alongside Educational Facilities Coordinator Dean Adams, Facilities Supervisor Christopher DeCicco, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Katherine Van Tassel, Transportation Director Lisa Vargas and numerous district employees who worked to transform the retired vehicle into a mobile STEM center.
Community partners and vendors also played a major role in making the project possible. “A lot of things were donated, actually, from vendors,” Van Tassel said.
Outgoing Superintendent Dr. Brian Latwis said the idea originated while he was participating in the American Association of School Administrators National Superintendent Certification Program. “One of the superintendents out west spoke about it and it sounded so awesome. We decided to put it in place here.”
The concept received strong support from the Board of Education according to Board President Scott Sarno. “From the outset, the Board recognized the value of providing students with experiences that foster creativity, collaboration and problem-solving,” Sarno said. “In a world where screens dominate so much of our daily lives, the STEM Bus offers students the opportunity to explore and discover through active engagement.”
He noted that repurposing an existing district-owned bus and utilizing donated materials and community support helped make the project a fiscally responsible investment.
The bus will travel among the district’s elementary schools, bringing STEM activities directly to students and serving as both a mobile laboratory and an outdoor classroom. Future lessons may include students collecting leaves, insects and other specimens outdoors before bringing them aboard to examine under microscopes.
“I love this project because it’s such a creative way to bring STEM learning directly to students,” Green said. “It provides a unique space for them to explore, experiment and problem-solve.”
As the lesson ended, students continued talking about lava, magma and eruptions while proudly examining their creations. For a retired bus that once carried children to school, its new mission appeared equally successful: bringing learning directly to them.
The school board plans to hold an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the STEM Bus at a future date.
