Church making Wi-Fi available to students
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Sampson’s Mills Presbyterian Church in White Oak has adapted its ministry efforts to help students and families in the McKeesport Area School District community deal with trying to learn during a pandemic.
The church is holding a back-to-school supply drive and is opening its doors and upstairs classrooms to give students and families without access to the internet a safe-space to connect to Wi-Fi and undertake their studies virtually.
“Our Wi-Fi center will be open every day during the week,” Pastor Jessica McClure Archer said. “We have a lot of classrooms upstairs, so families can come into one of our classrooms with their students and access Wi-Fi here at the church.”
She said students and families will easily be able to isolate themselves in the classrooms to practice social distancing.
Archer is calling on other area spiritual leaders to develop plans to open the doors of their congregations to provide MASD students with access to the internet.
“We know that it is a huge barrier to our students,” she said. “A device is no good unless it’s connected to the internet.
“All churches have Wi-Fi, so everyone should be in a position to share it. … I encourage public spaces to find creative solutions. If all churches, or a lot of them, would be able to do this, we would be able to hopefully help our students become stronger distance learners.”
Archer said many families in the district don’t have access to reliable transportation, but points out that there is at least one church in almost every neighborhood in McKeesport, White Oak and surrounding communities. She said having a place where students could walk to and access the internet would be helpful.
“If you are a public space, if you are a congregation please consider opening your space up,” she said, adding that creating “satellite Wi-Fi sites” can “help bridge the gap in the community.”
To read the rest of this story, please to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.
