CORNELIUS, N.C. — The start of the new school year is less than a week away for more than 147,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students who will all be returning virtually.
But while their interactions with their teachers will be online, we’ve learned dozens of creative in-person alternatives have popped up, offering students a safe place to conduct remote learning pods.
From non-profits to churches and even banks — several locations plan to open their doors to students this fall, sharing space and WiFi.
Cornelius-based Aquesta Bank is one of them.
“Parents who work, which a lot of people are in that boat, but there are actually some parents who work who can’t afford childcare, who can’t afford someone to come in and guide their children especially if they’re younger,” said Aquesta Bank VP, Laura Engel.
Engel said after seeing concerns raised by local parents on Facebook about students who could fall through the cracks with remote learning, she had a crazy idea.
“I thought, 'Well this would be a great use of our space, allow these children to come in here, use our WiFi, use our facility,'” she said.
Engel said the bank opened its doors 14 years ago as a community bank in Cornelius. She said several locations have community centers, which before COVID-19 were always open for customers to use, but she said come Monday, the community will be welcomed inside like never before.
She said the bank plans to turn the community rooms at three of their locations — the Operations Center in Mooresville, the main branch in Cornelius and the Huntersville branch — into safe places for learning.
There’s space to sit, WiFi, private bathrooms, green-space for recess, and most of all, a supportive environment, all free.
“Someone there to start their remote learning, a space where there’s direction, you know making sure the children are on task, they have a healthy lunch,” Engel said.
Engel said as news spread of the bank's efforts, the Make an Impact Foundation stepped in to help. The foundation said they’ve secured two additional locations including a church and American Legion in Cornelius.
Together, the two organizations say they plan to offer space for up to 200 children and have named their effort, Camp EdVantage.
The groups said they’re now focusing on finding volunteers who can help facilitate the student’s learning. They said they’re also looking for donations of money or food, to be able to offer the students snacks or lunch.
“The number of students we can serve is really based on the number of volunteers,” Engel said.
They said they are still accepting applications for students. The groups said signing up to volunteer is easy and anyone can apply online. They say will perform background checks and will hold a quick training session virtually.
