New Wheels Help Spread Innovation Across Newton Schools

From bike-powered smoothies to recipes for biodiesel, there are dozens of creative and inspiring projects being built inside Newton North's Innovation Lab. 

Now, the those ideas -- and the students behind them -- are ready to hit the road. 

Thanks to a $40,000 gift from The Village Bank, the Newton Public Schools' Innovation Lab can now purchase two, 15-passenger buses to help expand innovative learning experiences for students across the district. 

"A couple of years ago, when the idea of the Innovation Lab first bubbled up, we started thinking about the students and what we could do to connect and maintain the community they come from," says Steve Chinosi, the Lab's Chief Innovation Officer. "They leave those strong roots in those community schools...we knew we could create a way to connect them back to those villages." 

The first of the two buses was unveiled Thursday, May 2 at Newton North High School. City officials, School Committee members, school staff, administrators and Village Bank representatives were on hand to celebrate and check out the new wheels.

"[The bus] will help facilitate the best of what this city has to offer," Village Bank CEO Kenneth Brennan said during Thursday's unveiling. 

The bus will allow students from across the district to visit the Innovation Lab, Chinosi said, and will also give Innovation Lab students an opportunity to visit more companies and innovation centers in the Boston area -- all this without having to pay the $400/day to arrange for charter transportation. 

"[The bus] connects the 21 schools and connects those 21 schools to the larger community of Boston, which really is the innovation hub of North America," Chinosi said. "Our universities, our start-ups, the entrepreneurial community provides endless resources for our students, and this bus will connect that incredible community."

Looking for more Newton school news? Make sure to follow Newton Patch on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up for our email newsletters.

The pre-owned bus will be run on biodiesel created by Newton's Greengineering students working in the Innovation Lab and the maintenance will be handled by the students in North's automotive department, Chinosi said.

On top of the cost savings with fuel and maintenance, hiring a driver won't be necessary; the bus can be driven by any school faculty member that goes through a training process.

"The flexibility of taking 14 students and moving on demand really makes the process smoother," Chinosi said.

According to Chinosi, the first bus has already hit the road with a couple of trips planned every week. A second, wheelchair accessible bus, he said, is already in the works.