Long Bus Rides Become Learning Opportunity

December 7, 2010

Administrators in the Pope County School District in Hector, Arkansas, are outfitting their school buses with ceiling-mounted computer screens to broadcast science and math content to students during lengthy bus rides.

"To say we are rural is an understatement," said Superintendent Karen Cushman in a recent article in The Houston Chronicle. According to Cushman, more than 60 percent of the 600-student district is located in the Ozark National Forest and students spend two-plus hours on the school bus each day.

Pope County is working with Vanderbilt University's Aspirnaut Program to turn their buses into mobile classrooms and take advantage of their captive audience. Aspirnaut was founded by Arkansas native Billy Hudson and works with rural schools in Arkansas and Maine to help educate students in science, technology, engineering and math.

The high-tech bus has been in use for about a month and, according to Pope County, students seem to be captivated by the educational programming -- and staying out of trouble.

Sources: Dallas News (November 30, 2010): The Houston Chronicle (November 30, 2010)