ATLANTA — The DeKalb County School District unveiled a new student success mobile center at Lithonia High School Wednesday to help students focus on future goals and plan their careers after high school.
It's the district's latest renovated and redesigned school bus. The first was the mobile IMPACT Learning Hub, a traveling classroom with resources, supplies, and staff to allow students and adults to pursue educational goals.
The student success mobile center will provide students access to computers, virtual reality consoles, video game technology and a mini studio for those interested in creating content.
The outside of the bus features designs of people in different career fields, both fields that require a college degree and those that don't. Manomay Kidd, the executive director of student advancement for the district, explained this represents how a career path for students only sometimes signifies a traditional four-year college degree. The titles of multiple career paths are wrapped around the bus.
Photos | New student success mobile center
"We don't have to lead the conversation with college. Many of our students are honestly turned off by us asking if they're going to college. First, we have to engage them," Kidd said. "This bus allows us to engage them differently."
As listed on a DCSD press release, the newly renovated bus will travel to schools across the district, at community events and in neighborhoods. Its purpose is to collaborate with second-semester juniors as they continue through the end of their senior year, helping them focus and plan their future goals after high school.
Although primarily focused on supporting DeKalb high school students, school officials said the mobile center would also provide outreach to the district's middle and elementary schools.
Lithonia High School salutatorian Ayana Lynch said the mobile center would help bridge the gap between students and college education.
"In DeKalb and around that area, I feel like people don't have exposure to college and what's next. When they graduate, they're a little lost. I feel like the bus is a bridge between high school and college," Lynch said.
Kidd said the district's goal is to have the mobile center at a different location every day starting at the end of April. The bus will move to different schools within the county and be present at community events.