Donated Airstream mobilizes Vail schools' transition-to-work program

When Vail Unified School District was given a beaten up Airstream, they decided to use it to help students make money moves.

The trailer — now dubbed the “Dream Stream” — has been transformed into a mobile classroom for special education students in the school-to-work transition program.

The Dream Stream is a mobile snack station taken on by high school special education students. Vail marketing students are helping with things like pricing and inventory, said Michelle Wood, Vail’s director of special education.

Vail’s Transition from School to Work teaches real-world skills to students with different abilities in a practical way. The Dream Stream students have been learning to count change, take orders and work as a team.

Vail sophomore Eva Cabrera said her family is proud of her. She and her Dream Stream teammates have shirts made with a Dream Stream logo to wear while on the job. The same logo adorns the trailer.

According to the National Council on Disability, “Effective transition planning for high school students with disabilities can facilitate their success in adult life. … Graduates with disabilities are more likely to be employed following school if comprehensive vocational training is a primary component of their high school program and they have a job secured at the time of graduation.”

The Dream Stream trains students, but also puts that knowledge into practice, traveling to various Vail campuses selling drinks and snacks. Items such as student artwork are also being considered as eventual sale items.

“We’re going to start with different campuses so our high school students get to reconnect with their elementary teachers or middle school teachers,” Wood said.

Additionally, she said, the students will be role models for younger students.

“We’re hoping to have it at events within the community,” Wood said.

The shiny new snack shack on wheels is a far cry from when it arrived on campus, Wood said.

“(It) was just sitting on a campus and it was in pretty bad shape.”

By the time the trailer, which the original owner (a staff member’s relative) had intended to refurbish, was given new life, the interior was crumbling and home to various critters.

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Wood recalled, “We had to climb through the window. There was a lot of stuff that had been ripped out of it. There had been some animals living in it.”

“There were pack rats living inside,” said Living Branch Church Pastor Rob Davis.

Living Branch, a Vail church, helped get the Dream Stream on the road.

Through donations, the church contributed about $8,000 to the project. According to Vail Unified School District, after career and technical education and the special education departments pitched in, the Dream Stream cost $70,000.

Those funds are specifically “tied to these types of uses,” said Vail Unified School District communications director Kendra Santucci.

An outfit out of Phoenix helped refurbish the trailer to its current state, which is akin to a food truck, complete with a cooler.

The project was personal for Davis and his family. He and his wife have a daughter with different needs, something that has peppered the mission for the relatively new church, he said.

“We’ve kind of established the culture at our church of serving families that are impacted by disability,” Davis said. “And one of the things that’s been really important to us is to establish strong community partnerships.”

Last Christmas, Living Branch’s holiday offering was allocated to help the Dream Stream become a reality.

For now, two Vail high schools are participating, Wood said, saying there are about 15 to 20 special education students who will come from each school for the learning experience.

“We’re focusing on creating an inclusive community. We have an inclusive school district where all of our students that have disabilities are included in the general education classroom with their peers,” Wood said.

“Now we’re expanding that into the community and trying to bring the community together to support all people.”