Queensbury UFSD has been named a Champion of Change by the New York State School Boards Association for its Q-munity bus program. NYSSBA Area 7 Director Cathy Lewis attended the Queensbury Union Free School District Board of Education meeting Monday, May 13 to present a Champions of Change award to the district.
“It’s my pleasure to bring to you this evening this Champions of Change banner in recognition of the Q-munity bus program,” Lewis said. “I think that’s just the most clever name.”
The Champions of Change Recognition Program highlights school district initiatives that bring positive, meaningful change to the students, communities and districts of New York.
“We have an awards committee that looks at newspaper articles and sees the things that look innovative,” said Lewis, who was holding an article about the district’s Q-munity bus summer outreach program.
Several years ago, Queensbury UFSD renovated an old, yellow school bus into a blue, high-tech STEM classroom on wheels. The “Q-bus” is equipped with state-of-the-art furnishings, white boards with dry erase markers, OSMO tablets that merge tactile exploration with innovative technology, and hands-on learning materials for number and math learning. The bus also has Wi-Fi, a TV with an HDMI cable, a Chromebook, a microphone and surround sound system, Ozobots, Spheros, giant Jenga, arts and crafts, and a supply basket.
Staff and administrators from QUFSD set up the bus in different neighborhoods around Queensbury through the summer of 2023 and invited the community to engage in STEM activities as well as outdoor games and enjoy free popsicles, food and books.
The district utilizes the bus throughout the school year as well, explained Superintendent of Schools Kyle Gannon, who pitched the idea when he was hired as superintendent in 2019.
“We set it up all over campus,” Gannon said. “Just about every student UPK through grade 8 uses the bus during the school year.”