Vehicle Day Returns to Powell K-8

Young learners at Powell K-8 Academy got a close-up view of crane trucks, field mowers and other large vehicles at the school’s latest Vehicle Day event.

Vehicle Day is an immersive learning experience for Powell’s preschool, transitional kindergarten (TK) and kindergarten students. Children sit in the driver’s seat, honk horns and explore a variety of oversize trucks and first responder vehicles as they learn what they do and why they are vital to the community. Vehicle drivers led the day’s lessons.

Pamela Bee, an instructional coach in LBUSD’s elementary literacy intervention program, organizes Vehicle Day. Bee started Vehicle Day in 2017 while teaching TK at Powell. Beloved children’s book Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site helped spark the idea for the program.

“Vehicle Day expands children’s knowledge of the world around them. The vehicles in the program align with what they see in the community,” said Bee. “The drivers get to be the teachers at Vehicle Day.”

The Long Beach Police Department has participated in the program since its inception, as has a local ice cream truck operator. Fire truck, tow truck and racecar drivers have lent their time and vehicles to previous Vehicle Day events.