Old Donation School

The EcoBus concept began as a natural outgrowth of the 8th grade Capstone project at Old Donation School, which asks students to identify a sustainability need in the local community and then design a way to meet that need that fits in with the "triple bottom-line" concept taught systemwide. In going through the Capstone process, groups of students continually identified the need for sustainability principles and practices to become an ubiquitous part of the curricular framework across the school division. Upon further research, students decided that an innovative way to meet this need would be to export sustainability teaching to schools across the division in a high energy, exciting environment. The vision for making the delivery medium a bus started with Dr. Kelly Hedrick and was brought to life when Tim Cole, Chief Sustainability Officer for VBCPS, acquired a decommissioned vehicle for the students to design. As the lead facilitator of the bus project, it is my goal to ensure that every single facet of the bus design, curriculum, and implementation as an instructional medium is created by students. Meeting this goal requires me plan and oversee work sessions, engage with community partners, organize extracurricular learning activities that further the students' work, and organize the necessary funding sources to bring the project to life. Along this journey, we have acquired some vital community partners who have helped the students bring their vision to fruition and who continue to selflessly give of their time and talents as we enter new phases of the project. At this point, the EcoBus project is in its third year which represents a vital stage of its design and development. At present, we have a fully functioning bus that runs on vegetable oil, is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, and ready for interior and exterior buildout. The goal for the year ahead is to secure enough funding to complete the buildout and hand the finished bus over to a new cohort of students to field test the curriculum and finish the programming of the space. Our community partners continue to be a vital part of the process and the future continues to look bright as we push ahead into another year.