SCHOOL BUS GREENHOUSE Bullock County Schools is using creativity in effectively bringing to life the phrase, “rolling classroom”. Through a collaborative partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), Bullock County Schools repurposed a school bus to create a greenhouse, a School Bus Greenhouse. In early 2020, Dr. Christopher Blair, Superintendent of Schools, Bullock County Schools, shared a vision of STEM activities with Dr. Gary Maddux, Principal Director, UAH Systems Management and Production (SMAP) Center, while discussing longterm strategies to meet the economic challenges of the Black Belt Region. Understanding that a successful STEM project should address the current economy of Bullock County, namely agriculture, along with emerging regional growth industries, such 22
as solar power, Dr. Blair and UAH hoped to develop a project that merged the present with the future. Immediately, Dr. Maddux and his SMAP Center team provided a resolution to Dr. Blair’s vision, resulting in a collaborative partnership with Dr. Marvin A. Lowe, Director of Career and Technical Education, Bullock County Schools, thus establishing the system’s first rolling STEM Classroom. Months of collaboration were invested in the School Bus Greenhouse project. During the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic and while Bullock County schools were operating remotely, Dr. Lowe, Dr. Maddux, and personnel from both organizations collaborated weekly, via Zoom, in planning the School Bus Greenhouse. The UAH collaborative
