Soapstone United Methodist Church in Raleigh (Capital District) began the “Soapstone Schoolhouse” in September 2020 to meet the needs of local students and families who made the sudden shift to remote learning this year. With the church sanctuary and classrooms unused by their traditional ministries, they were able to offer their space to 23 students in the first session, and 29 students in the second session, who came each school day to turn the Soapstone worship space into a gathering place for remote learning.
Photo taken by Danny Peck.
The large space in the sanctuary allowed this group to participate in school in the midst of other students while still maintaining social distance protocols, but also to enjoy fellowship during their breaks. Students from third grade through twelfth grade took advantage of this one-room schoolhouse approach to a learning space and used their down time together for everything from playing four square and basketball outside to learning from adult church members how to knit (and teaching the volunteers how to play “Among Us”).
Photo taken by Danny Peck.
A conference C4C Community Connectivity Grant helped with the big WiFi service and equipment upgrade necessitated by 30+ simultaneous video connections and helped make this dream a reality for the students who were otherwise missing the normal interaction of in-person learning, the parents who still needed to be at work, and the faithful members of Soapstone who were looking for new ways to serve in the ever-changing landscape of 2020.