The Acadia Parish School Board began its journey into the realm of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in 2018 with a proposal to the district team. The proposal outlined creating a collaborative learning space that had an open concept filled with components of STEM which included but was not limited to programmable robots, VR headsets, coding, circuitry, and building kits. The rationale of the project noted that "All students should have access to STEM education to build awareness of STEM and connect them to careers related to STEM.   The project outline and outcomes were as follows:

Spring 2019- identify STEM advisory team to plan and design lab, construct lab
Summer 2019-teachers attend professional development on components of lab-(60 teachers) 
Fall 2019 --STEM Saturday (district) 
Fall 2019--Certified teachers bring students for 1 visit during fall (1.5 to 4 hours)

Success!! The Acadia STEM Lab was a go. We used existing furniture to transform an existing computer lab into a new collaborative space to be utilized for STEM lessons and double as a location for teacher professional development. STEM lab components were purchased which included 4 sets of Class VR headsets, a set of Sphero robots, Keva planks, LEGO bricks, Makey-Makey kits, an Activepanel, and two 3-D printers. 

Spring of 2020-Covid changed everything. The STEM space was transformed into the Acadia Parish A+ Campus Virtual School. 
November 2021 a proposal was written and presented to the board with the mission to "Provide a mobile engaging experience with Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math that will travel to schools across the district providing learning opportunities with tools that may not be accessible in the classroom." 
Spring 2023 - Acquisition of bus and transportation of bus to Nomi Design for outside wrapping and interior design
Fall 2023 - Arrival of the bus from Nomi Design and finalization of the initial rollout plan, Acadia team worked on getting standards based programing 
Spring 2024 - The first visit of the STEM Bus at Crowley Kindergarten where they currently focus on Art.  We were able to integrate STEM activities and art.  Activities included viewing street art with Virtual Reality goggles, painting with Sphero robots, mixing colors, and pixel art using circuitry with the Makey-Makey.  Plans are to build capacity and stem knowledge of instructional teams so that they are able to facilitate school visits. 
2024-2025 School year - Regular visits to each school site.  District-wide focus is Geometry.  Initial school visits will cater to upper elementary students with an emphasis on geometry math standards.