The Monroe County Community School Corp. celebrated the arrival of the STEM to Them mobile lab on Monday afternoon at Bloomington High School South. The bus will be taken to each of the MCCSC’s 14 elementary schools twice a year to provide robotics, computer science and engineering lessons to students. Staff photo by Emily Cox
The Monroe County Community School Corp. celebrated the arrival of the STEM to Them mobile lab on Monday afternoon at Bloomington High School South. The bus will be taken to each of the MCCSC’s 14 elementary schools twice a year to provide robotics, computer science and engineering lessons to students. Staff photo by Emily Cox
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Bus donors

Donors who made the STEM to Them bus possible include:

  • CenterPoint Energy, $100,000
  • Boston Scientific, $50,000
  • Catalent Biologics, $25,000
  • Duke Energy, $25,000
  • Harrell-Fish Inc., $25,000
  • Raymond Foundation, $25,000
  • Regional Opportunity Initiatives, $25,000
  • Smithville, $25,000
  • State Farm, $25,000
  • Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association, $10,000
  • Old National Bank, $10,000
  • Southern Indiana Radiological Associates, $5,000
  • Monroe County Medical Society, $1,000
The students in the Monroe County Community School Corp. are encouraged to be innovative and find solutions to problems, Cyrilla Helm, executive director of the Foundation of Monroe County Community Schools, said Monday afternoon.

“Now we found a need and solved it,” she said.

An idea that has been in the works for years has now come to fruition — on Monday afternoon, MCCSC administrators, principals, teachers and staff gathered outside of Bloomington High School South to celebrate the arrival of the STEM to Them mobile lab, which will travel to each of the MCCSC’s 14 elementary schools twice a year, equipped with a laser cutter, 3D printer and other learning materials, to provide robotics, computer science and engineering lessons to students. The bus was paid for with funding from sponsors. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

“This was a dream, and today it’s a reality,” Superintendent Judy DeMuth said.

DeMuth thanked Lisa Roberts, principal at Grandview Elementary School, and Grandview teachers, who started a STEM initiative at the elementary level at Grandview. DeMuth said she considers that to be a foundational piece in leading to something like the STEM to Them mobile lab. DeMuth also thanked the central office team, Helm and the sponsors of the bus. Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, school board president, thanked everyone on behalf of the board.
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