Much of the Native American community of the Navajo Nation, which makes up half the student body, has no electricity, running water or internet, so accessing lessons remotely is a challenge.
A New Mexico high school is using its fleet of buses to bring work, supplies, and other essentials to students, many of whom are part of the Navajo Nation, who are at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Much of the Native American community of the Navajo Nation, which makes up half the student body, has no electricity, running water or internet, so accessing lessons remotely is a challenge.
"Pretty much anything we can send a student, they get on the bus. School supplies, school work, food, clothes - anything that the school can provide for them, we send it on the bus," Veronica Madrid, an administrative assistant at the Cuba Independent School District, told CBS News.
School lunches, which include prepared foods and milk, are also loaded onto the bus and brought to the children.
The school has sent out 100 USB devices they call "slap bracelets," preloaded with homework, lectures and reading materials, 90 of which went to the Native American students who make up half the student body. Once the students are done, they return the USB device to the school bus driver, who brings it back to the teacher to check on the work.
Since schools shut down in March, the students have no way to hang out with friends and for many, their only lifeline to the outside world are these modern magic school buses.
"Hopefully, hopefully by next semester, we'll be going back into school," one 18-year-old said. "I don't like online, I like to be, you know, in school, learning."
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