Staff Report //January 15, 2019//
Pelion Middle School is the latest participant in a Google initiative to bring Wi-Fi access to students in rural areas who face long school commutes.
The Rolling Study Halls initiative, piloted in North and South Carolina and being expanded to 16 school districts nationwide, outfits school buses with Wi-Fi access, computers and onboard educators. The program allows students to continue learning during more than 1.5 million hours spent commuting to school annually, according to a news release.
S.C. State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman helped celebrate the program’s launch at Pelion Middle School on Monday.
“We are excited that Google has partnered with Lexington School District One to bring the Rolling Study Hall program to students in Pelion,” Spearman said in the release. “This program acts as an extended classroom and helps promote student achievement while students are still on the bus going to and from school each day.”
Rolling Study Halls is part of Grow with Google, a program that aims to provide resources across the U.S. for people to improve their skills, businesses and careers through free tools, training and events.
“It’s important for students everywhere to have access to the tools they need to learn every day,” Google spokesperson Alex Sanchez said.