Learning pods helping students stay connected with school

Pitts says he doesn't have Internet at home, like 20% of students in the Halifax County School District. The school district has partnered with several rural churches to start learning pods with high-speed Internet connections.

"From the start of the year until now, and with the learning pods tied in, it's been a total turnaround," said Ben Eustice, Scotland Neck Elementary Leadership Academy's principal.

There are currently 75 students enrolled in five pods across the county.

Some of the WiFi boxes powering the pods come from the buses the county previously used to get students an Internet connection.

"It's been amazing," Janell James, a high school senior, said. "It gives you more of a classroom experience than being at home."

This is just a Band-Aid over the problem, though. Despite the hotspots handed out by the state and the learning pod, the district says it still has students who have to pick up paper packets to do their schoolwork.

Still, for the students who have been using it for school, the pods have definitely made a positive influence.

"If they'd never start the learning pod, I wouldn't be able to get on class," Pitts said. "I would just flunk the 5th grade."