While the end of the school year is an exciting time for many, for Polly Long, Jon Doss, Tanya Davis, and a host of dedicated employees and volunteers, June 7 marked the opening day of the long-awaited program called the Blue Bear Bus. Once a vision and now a reality, the Blue Bear Bus has been transformed from an old school bus into an internet-connected resource center and S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) classroom on wheels.
The Blue Bear Bus can be found going around neighborhoods in Mount Airy twice a day from Monday through Thursday, engaging students and families. The calendar of events scheduled runs from June to August and after just two weeks the bus has developed a following serving over 180 students. Those working and volunteering each session have enjoyed a front seat to the excitement of students.
One child participating during Week One - Under the Sea exclaimed, “This is the best day of my life!” In Week Two - READY! SET! GO! FITNESS & FUN a child was overheard saying, “Best day ever! I’m so glad my grandma said yes and brought us here! These snacks are better than daycare.”
The two-hour sessions start at 9:30 am and 1:00 pm. Workers arrive to set up and see students and families waiting for the bus to begin. Once ready, they gather around the bus to enjoy S.T.E.A.M. activities, storytime, musical instruments, creative snacks, crafts, and physical activities. Educators run the bus and strive to incorporate weekly themes into each activity. During the second week, participants used pool noodles to exercise through cardio drumming. Students, families, and leaders are frequently found ending the warm summer sessions through obstacle courses and water play. At the close of each session, students pause to pick out a book to take home. Participants are also sent home with food and an activity based on that week’s theme.
The Blue Bear Bus is a spin-off of the highly popular and loved Blue Bear Cafe where students are found “Serving Kindness One Cup at a Time”. Polly Long and Tanya Davis started the cafe and quickly found more like-minded individuals who helped facilitate its growth into the hub of Mount Airy High School. The group even found ways to deliver beverages and kindness to other schools in the district. Through its mission of spreading kindness, the cafe worked to open up to local businesses through its drive-through service. While the cafe ends with the school year, the group decided they wanted to take kindness to the streets in the summer when students and families were more likely to be disconnected from school.
In record time, Transportation Coordinator Jon Doss found an activity bus to start the project. The bus needed to be renovated and members of the team began sharing their vision with community organizations and businesses. The Mount Airy Rotary and Surry Sunrise Rotary Clubs were excited to broaden their partnership with the district which is based around ensuring students are fed over weekends and holidays. The National Guard also jumped at the opportunity to serve its community and not only donated money but donated people to attend sessions scheduled for the Blue Bear Bus. With the bus being successfully renovated to include tables with facing seats to encourage family engagement, MiFi, storage for supplies, and bar space with stools for reading and creating, the vision was becoming reality. Morgan Design created a colorful and inviting graphics that wrap the bus to make it clear that the Blue Bear Bus is in town.
The group then connected with Director of Innovative Programming Penny Willard to see what possibilities there were to make this idea come to life with resources and activities. Willard knew that the group’s desire to provide summer opportunities and learning to students lined up with Duke Energy’s grant program. The Duke Energy Foundation strives “to fund summer learning, tutoring and other supplemental learning opportunities in underserved and minority communities to combat learning gaps created by the pandemic.” While Mount Airy City Schools was the only school district in the state to return five days a week for Pre K-12th graders, the pandemic did not leave the learning of students without impact. The Blue Bear Bus is able to roll into neighborhoods and provide S.T.E.A.M. activities, snacks, books, physical activities, and more to students and their families.
“We are excited to put our Blue Bear Bus into motion this summer for innovative student learning experiences in the community. Our district is thankful for the Duke Energy Foundation
partnership that will allow the Blue Bear Bus mobile STEAM classroom to support our students
as thinkers, creators, designers, problem solvers, and innovators!” noted Dr. Kim Morrison, Superintendent.
The program was gearing up when Willard got the news that the district had been awarded the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. The funding from this grant provided staffing to facilitate the family and community engagement activities allowing the connection between school and home to continue.
Willard stated, “The Blue Bear Bus project is a prime example of the goal for all 21st Century Community Learning Center grants, which aim to provide academic and enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children and prioritize family engagement experiences. Through this project, we are able to build new partnerships within our community and strengthen existing ones to best serve our students and families. This is a win-win for our district and community in multiple ways, but most importantly, our kids will have access to a summer break filled with learning and fun!”