Taking STEAM Education on the Road
In today’s classrooms, hands-on learning, creativity, and problem-solving are no longer optional — they’re essential. Yet many districts face resource and space limitations when trying to offer equal access to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) programs.
At Van Independent School District (Van ISD) in Texas, this challenge led to an out-of-the-box idea: repurpose a retired school bus into a state-of-the-art mobile STEAM lab. With BenQ interactive flat panels and monitors at the heart of the design, the STEAM bus brings advanced learning opportunities to every student across five campuses and even beyond district lines.
This story is not just about technology — it’s about vision, collaboration, and students helping to create something bigger than themselves.
Virtual Tour of Van ISD STEAM Bus: Inside Look
The Challenge: Bringing Equity to STEAM Learning
Van ISD leaders faced a problem many school districts know well:
- Budgetary constraints limited the ability to build full STEAM labs on each of the district’s five campuses.
- Equity of access meant that if some schools had advanced labs and others didn’t, opportunities would remain unequal.
- Student engagement required new, exciting ways to spark curiosity outside traditional classrooms.
Jason Johnson, Chief Technology Officer at Van ISD, and then-CTE Director Carla Rainey, began exploring how to bring STEAM to all students without requiring five separate investments. The solution? A bus that could travel from school to school — but it would require creativity, resources, and collaboration across the entire district.
The Solution: Turning Vision Into Reality
A District-Wide, Student-Powered Project
The bus conversion became a true community effort. Students in woodshop, metalworking, and graphic arts classes contributed their skills to help build and customize the interior. Even future educators-in-training were invited to deliver lessons onboard once the bus launched.
As Johnson explained:
“We approached our CTE director about what a project like this would look like using our students from wood shop, metal shop, and graphic arts — and then even for program delivery. When we got the bus ready and felt comfortable to start teaching lessons, we wondered if we’d be able to use kids who are in our CTE program who want to be teachers to not only learn, but also to teach. That approach became a reality.”
The project united students, the maintenance team, the technology department, and district leadership in a way that created ownership, pride, and real-world learning at every level.
Van ISD STEAM Bus at TCEA and ISTE
BenQ interactive display inside the bus
BenQ Boards: The Technology That Made It Possible
At the core of the STEAM bus are BenQ Board interactive displays and monitors. These displays became the “last ingredient” that elevated the entire project into a true mobile classroom.
Teachers now use BenQ Boards to:
- Deliver multimedia-rich lessons across STEAM subjects.
- Host interactive simulations and design projects where students can sketch, annotate, and collaborate directly on the screen.
- Empower students to present projects in real time, receiving immediate peer and teacher feedback.
- Integrate STEAM-focused software and apps for coding, design, and collaborative learning.
BenQ monitors complement the boards by powering individual stations, displaying schematics, videos, and design projects so that all students, regardless of where they sit, can stay engaged.
Johnson summed it up:
“I don’t think anything that we are doing now with the bus would be possible without BenQ. When you have a big project, you just need that one last ingredient to elevate the whole thing. BenQ is that ingredient.”
BenQ Board inside the STEAM bus
BenQ monitor inside the STEAM bus
Overcoming Challenges Along the Way
Building a mobile STEAM lab from a retired bus wasn’t easy. Van ISD faced multiple obstacles, each solved with creativity and teamwork:
- Space limitations: Designing functional storage, flexible seating, and durable workstations within a bus required student input and trial-and-error solutions.
- Power and connectivity: Reliable power and network access had to be installed and tested to support high-tech tools and displays.
- Training: Teachers and students alike needed training to use the new technology effectively.
- Logistics: Scheduling rotations between five campuses while ensuring equal access took careful planning.
Despite these hurdles, the collaborative spirit never faltered. Every challenge became a new opportunity for students to learn problem-solving and for departments to innovate together.
The Results: A Bus That’s Bigger Than the District
The completed STEAM bus now travels across Van ISD’s campuses, bringing opportunities to every student.
- Equity in access: All 2,600+ Van ISD students, regardless of school, now have hands-on STEAM learning.
- Real-world experience: Students involved in the build gained practical skills in design, fabrication, and teaching.
- Extended impact: The bus occasionally travels beyond district lines, serving smaller, underfunded districts across Texas.
Johnson shared a moment of reflection:
“I had this step-back moment where I thought about how we had a part in building this and now it’s bigger than all of us. It’ll be here when we’re gone. Across our state, people now recognize our district and our association with the STEAM bus. To me, that’s something to be proud of.”
Why It Matters: A Blueprint for Innovation
The Van ISD STEAM bus is more than a classroom on wheels — it’s a blueprint for how districts everywhere can innovate with limited resources. By combining creativity, student collaboration, and interactive flat panel technology, schools can bring transformative learning opportunities to all students, no matter their size or budget.
Other districts can take away key lessons:
- Leverage student talent and district resources to cut costs and build ownership.
- Use BenQ interactive displays to make collaborative learning possible anywhere.
- Think creatively about how to extend opportunities beyond your own district.
Conclusion: Driving Toward the Future of Learning
Van ISD’s STEAM bus demonstrates the power of visionary leadership and the right technology to turn challenges into opportunities. What began as a practical response to budget constraints became a statewide symbol of innovation and equity in education.
By outfitting a retired vehicle with BenQ interactive displays, Van ISD created a mobile hub of creativity, exploration, and inspiration — one that will impact students for years to come.
All aboard the STEAM bus!