Golden Triangle Regional Airport Executive Director Mike Hainsey knew he had to do something productive with his building’s currently unoccupied space.
So, GTRA created what is now called the SkiFi learning laboratory on the second floor of its terminal building to provide free internet access to K-12 students in the Golden Triangle from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday.
Monday was the laboratory’s first day in operation and it is expected to run through the spring.
GTRA had additional space after it expanded with a second terminal in February, but after enduring months of the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic at the airport is now down 65 percent, Hainsey said.
With students across the Golden Triangle utilizing virtual learning options during the pandemic, Hainsey wanted to put the extra space to effective use.
“We have a lot of open space,” Hainsey said. “We were reading stories about kids that were sitting outside of McDonald’s to pick up internet so they could go to school. It just felt like the right thing to do to provide them a comfortable, safe place to study.”
Up to 15 students can use the laboratory at a time. A mask must be worn and social distancing protocols will be in place. Students can reserve a workspace by going online to https://www.picktime.com/gtra, or by calling the administrative office, with walk ins also welcome. All students under 16 must always have an adult over 21 stay with them and each desk will be cleaned after every use. Free parking will also be provided.
“They’ll sign in and we’ll reserve the desk for them,” Hainsey said. “They can call in too. My wife laughed at me when I said, ‘We ought to have them reserve it online.’ She said, ‘They can’t get online.’ But they can call in or reserve it for another day. It will guarantee them to have a spot.”
Part of the airport’s February expansion was increasing its internet from 20 megabytes per second to 100 megabytes per second, so Hainsey thought GTRA had the bandwidth needed already in place to support the project. The total cost of the SkiFi learning laboratory was less than $1,000, Hainsey said, and was used from the airport’s operating budget to purchase pads, pens and other miscellaneous items.
Superintendents at Columbus Municipal and Lowndes County school districts are already thrilled about the opportunity this will provide for their students.
“Anything like that which will help out kids especially during this time is great,” Lowndes County School District Superintendent Sam Allison said. “Obviously, this is a more rural area, so I’m not yet sure how many of our families will take advantage of it, but I sure hope that they will.”
Because LCSD is doing both in-person and virtual learning, Allison said part of the agreement required from families who opted for virtual learning was contingent on having reliable internet access to complete coursework. But he said early in the fall semester he heard from some students their internet access wasn’t as reliable as they initially thought, so the laboratory could provide a more helpful connectivity option.
“Because of the location, I think this could really help the West Lowndes schools,” Allison said. “It would be the closest for them, so that’s my first thought.”
Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Cherie Labat said she’s thrilled her students also have another option for internet access.
“I think it’s a great initiative that students can schedule a time to go online. I’m glad they’re accommodating both our younger and older students,” Labat said. “Anything that gives our students additional connectivity and therefore gives back to the community is a great thing. We’re excited about the initiative and hope some of our students can take advantage of it.”
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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