The University of West Alabama partnered with Betabox to bring hands-on STEM career experiences to K-12 students across Alabama's rural Black Belt, a region far removed from the state's growing manufacturing and advanced-industry base. Since the partnership began, UWA has delivered more than 400 Onsite Field Trips to 80 schools in 24 counties, creating roughly 21,500 student experiences through FY2025 and training 425 teachers along the way. What started as a single grant-funded component has grown into a renewed, multi-year university capability, with a 2026 to 27 extension that turns every field trip into a recruitment touchpoint for UWA.
The Challenge
Alabama's economy is expanding, anchored by major employers like Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and Airbus. But for students in the state's rural Black Belt, those career paths can feel like they belong to a different world. The region's schools are geographically distant from the labs, equipment, and employers that make advanced manufacturing, robotics, and automation careers tangible to a middle or high schooler.
The University of West Alabama, based in Livingston, set out to change that through its LINCS workforce initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Delta Regional Authority. LINCS aimed to build a regional talent pipeline across a 10-county Black Belt footprint, grounded in industry-recognized standards and credentials. A K-12 STEM career-awareness component was central to that vision, planting the idea of advanced-industry careers early enough that students could grow into them. But UWA needed a partner who could design, staff, and deliver that programming directly to rural schools.
The need was captured plainly by a West Blocton Middle School librarian: "Most of our students are low or middle income students. Their exposure is limited." The librarian added, "Our students know there's nurses and doctors and teachers, but they don't think beyond that." The barriers were substantial: no existing mobile lab infrastructure, no standards-aligned curriculum built for the region's schools, and the logistical challenge of recruiting and serving campuses spread across many rural counties.
The Solution
Betabox began by interviewing UWA stakeholders to understand the goals of the LINCS initiative and the realities of serving rural Black Belt schools. From there, Betabox took on end-to-end responsibility for the K-12 component: lab design, operations and logistics, curriculum development, staffing, and school recruitment.
Betabox designed and built three mobile technology labs specifically for UWA and delivered them to the university's campus. Two were configured for adult workforce training at employer sites, and one was built for K-12 career awareness, each engineered to handle the demands of travel across rural Alabama roads. The labs use swappable equipment "stacks," allowing the same physical unit to support different programming needs, from robotics and automation to 3D printing, drones, and autonomous systems, all tied to Alabama-standards-aligned curriculum.
On a typical Onsite Field Trip, five to six classes of about 25 students rotate through the lab in a single day. Betabox's School Success team worked directly with schools to book and run these visits, with UWA introducing the team to eligible campuses across its service area. Teachers received follow-up instructional support at no cost to their schools, along with professional development and access to an equipment Checkouts program so STEM learning could continue after the mobile lab left.
The partnership has run since 2019, with the first school visits beginning in 2021. Demand proved immediate: the first semester of field trips filled completely, with interest spilling into the following semester. As the original LINCS grant phase concluded, UWA chose to fund program extensions itself rather than let the momentum lapse. That commitment culminated in a signed 2026 to 27 renewal covering 30 Onsite Field Trip days. The renewed agreement deepens the partnership further: UWA campus recruiters will now be present at field trips, programming will place added focus on upperclassmen, a UWA-specific CareerStack™ survey tool will be introduced as a recruitment touchpoint, STEM Project Kits will be provided to UWA's Black Belt STEM Institute, and impact data will be formally shared with UWA leadership.
None of this came without friction. Betabox and UWA had to solve for labs that could reliably travel rural roads, coordinate bookings across a wide and sparsely connected region, and absorb the inevitable disruptions from weather and shifting school schedules. Working through those logistics became part of building a program that could sustain itself well beyond the initial grant period.
The Results
The partnership's reach has grown substantially since the first school visits in 2021. Through FY2025, UWA and Betabox have delivered more than 400 Onsite Field Trips to 80 schools across 24 Alabama counties, creating roughly 21,500 student experiences and generating 1.27 million hands-on learning minutes. Along the way, 425 teachers have received training to extend the impact of each visit beyond the day the mobile lab was on campus.
Those numbers build on a strong early foundation. In the first phase of LINCS programming, from May 2021 to September 2022, Betabox and UWA delivered 152 event days, resulting in 4,214 student experiences and 6,166 learning hours. Demand for the program exceeded supply from the very start: the first semester of school visits filled completely, with interest spilling into the next.
The program's early results did more than satisfy a grant deliverable. They drew outside attention and investment, including engagement from MITRE and the Alabama STEM Council, and 2024 GEER funding that has allowed the model to expand statewide and into coastal communities such as Mobile. What began within a 10-county Black Belt footprint has expanded statewide.
For UWA, the value has extended well past the K-12 classroom. The university now has university-based mobile lab infrastructure, designed and built by Betabox and delivered to its campus. Each renewal, from the original LINCS phase through UWA-funded extensions to the newly signed 2026 to 27 agreement, reflects a deliberate choice to keep investing in the partnership rather than let it end with the grant. The 2026 to 27 renewal goes further still, placing UWA recruiters on site at field trips and introducing a UWA-specific CareerStack™ tool, converting what was once a one-day STEM experience into an ongoing recruitment and career-career path touchpoint for the university.
Dr. Tina Jones, Provost (Retired) of the University of West Alabama, summarized the relationship directly: "Our partnership with Betabox has been very collaborative and to me transformative."
Conclusion
What began as a single component of a federally funded workforce grant has become a durable piece of university infrastructure. The University of West Alabama now has university-based mobile lab infrastructure for bringing hands-on STEM experiences to Black Belt students, has seen 425 teachers trained, and has seen the program's early results draw MITRE, the Alabama STEM Council, and 2024 GEER funding to expand it statewide. With the 2026 to 27 renewal, UWA and Betabox are moving the partnership into its next phase, one where every mobile lab visit also serves as a recruiting opportunity for the university, upperclassmen receive more targeted programming, and a CareerStack™ tool built for UWA helps connect rural students directly to Black Belt career paths. For university, workforce, and industry partners weighing how to reach K-12 students at scale, UWA's experience suggests that the most lasting impact comes not from a one-time event, but from infrastructure built to grow with the institution.
Additional Outcomes
UWA now has university-based mobile lab infrastructure and has renewed the program repeatedly since the original grant phase. Demand from schools has exceeded available slots since launch. The program's early results drew MITRE, the Alabama STEM Council, and 2024 GEER funding to expand it statewide and into coastal communities such as Mobile. The 2026 to 27 renewal turns every field trip into a recruiting touchpoint for UWA and launches a CareerStack™ tool built for UWA and Black Belt opportunities.