A place to study away from home

MOSES LAKE — School can be hard enough in ordinary times.

But it’s been especially difficult for lots of kids following last spring’s closure of schools statewide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision by school districts to go to full online education or only partial in-class instruction last fall has only helped slightly, with greater numbers of kids failing classes or falling behind.

It’s something Moses Lake native Holly Rock, herself left unemployed by the pandemic, wants to help address.

“I knew that kids were going to start struggling,” Rock said. “And the more I heard from the kids struggling, the more I heard from parents coming home after work trying to help their learners do their homework after a long work day, I just want to help people out.”

It’s Tuesday morning, and Rock sits on a couch in the spacious insides of her new business, Hometown Studyhall, located at 108 W. Third Ave. in downtown Moses Lake. It’s the same space formerly used by the Grant County Republican Party as its 2020 campaign headquarters and before then, home to Angry Squirrelz game store.

Rock is slightly anxious and yet hopeful. It’s not very busy right now, but she’s hopeful — the kids will come. She said she’s received a lot of inquiries, a lot of interest, and more than a few sign-ups.

“We help kids with all of their learning needs. Kids are bringing their homework, whether they are doing remote learning or part-time school, we have an after-school program where they can come and get help with their homework,” she said.

Rock said the plan is to offer, for a fee, morning and afternoon study sessions (with an hour in-between for deep cleaning), along with tutoring if needed. It’s to be both a place to study and a place to get help.

“We’re pretty excited, we have quite a few people signed up this first week,” Rock said.

Rock said she was inspired by the the time she spent studying and working at North Idaho College, watching young people and students grow, learn and succeed.

“I want kids to love school,” she said.

Among the four tutors — current or recent college grads, most of them — who have joined Rock in this endeavor is recent Big Bend Community College graduate Megan Wilson, who said while she struggled in school a bit, mostly she wants to help provide a place to study that isn’t home and isn’t school.

“My biggest thing is I didn’t have anywhere else to go and study besides school,” Wilson said. “So I went to Starbucks, anywhere but home. The library, anywhere.”

When COVID-19 hit, Wilson said that wasn’t an option anymore, which was one main reason she signed on to Rock’s Hometown Studyhall business.

But like Rock, Wilson said she really wants to help kids.

“My grandma had a daycare when I was growing up, so seeing all those kids growing up and they’re now in middle school and late elementary school, and those are the kids I want to help,” Wilson said. “I want them to see that school isn’t bad, and that they can do it. It’s not hard. Once you set your mind to it, you can do it.”

“She’s a helper, like me,” Rock added.

Rock has lots of plans, and a lot of things she’s got in mind are shifting. They have older kids — middle-schoolers and high-schoolers — in mind with their studying and tutoring, but she’s not planning on saying no to anyone. She looks at a closet and sees a reading nook or a test proctoring center, and has been pledged donations of a piano, a treadmill and an exercise bike.

She even has a “virtual bluetooth pingpong” set, though she’s not entirely sure quite what that means.

“I don’t know how it works,” Rock said. “But there’s a light in the air for pingpong.”

She’s also hoping that as time goes on, as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes and things open up, the community will become more involved. Rock said she envisions story hours, coding contests, math labs, and lots more tutors making themselves available. This isn’t just a response to the pandemic. It’s a way to help kids.

“We want community involvement,” she said. “We’re still learning together as well.”

If the reaction of one student on Monday — the first day Hometown Studyhall was open — is any gauge, Rock said the future is bright.

“One of the first students on Monday, a 16-year-old girl, asked ‘Do I have to leave at noon?’ Because of the deep cleaning,” Rock said. “And I was like, ‘stay forever!’”

“I think it’s just somewhere that the kids will know that they are safe and have assistance and can be a getaway from home,” Wilson added.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].