ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A local church wants to help children succeed with remote learning. The church started a program called ‘Study Hall.’ Organizers say although the church is in Rockford, any Stateline student is welcome to attend.

“We’re like, ‘we have space and we have WiFi,'” said Emily Krantz, the Middle High School Pastor at Christian Church

For some students across the Stateline, finding a quiet space and WiFi is rare. So Northeast Christian Church, located at 5651 E. Riverside Boulevard, stepped up to help out.

“Let’s open up our building and give them a space to do that learning and help those families whether that’s they don’t have WiFi at home, or they have younger siblings that are crazy, or they just want their children to have social interaction. We can meet those needs in one space,” Pastor Krantz explained.

Any middle or high school student can register.

“We have seven registered, so they do have to register so we know how many desks to set up…we have room for way more. We can expand as needed we can expand into more days if we need to if that arises,” she added.

The doors are open at 8 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Students are welcome to stay until 5 p.m.

“It’s a nice place where I can focus because at home there are all the people in my house and it just is distracting. Here I can sit down and everybody’s quiet, everybody listens and I can really zone in on my work,” said Sofia Noel Guevara, a freshman at Aubrun High School.

Sofia Guevara has a heft school load. With four advanced classes and three others, she needs an area to focus.

“Most of the time it’s really confusing, I can’t just go up to my teacher and say ‘hey here’s my question’ I have to email them or put it in the google classroom, or if I need to look something up and my WiFi isn’t working it’s like the equivalent of not being at school,” she explained.

The church is even offering additional resources for students.

“We have a retired English teacher on Mondays…and then we have a math tutor on Wednesday morning, so it’s been nice to be able to help them with their school and be there to hang out with them and answer questions I can try and answer,” Pastor Krantz said.

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