LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Hundreds of Louisville students will receive free Wi-Fi hotspots for a year, and it's all to help them get better grades.
Twenty kids at Atkinson Elementary School in west Louisville are among the hundreds of other students in the city getting hotspots like this from the organization 100 Black Men of America.
"I'm excited, really, because I don't have to rush to do my homework at school," said Kamya Harper, an eight-grader at Stuart Academy.
It's called homework for a reason, but students like Kamya never got the chance to do her homework at home until now.
Reggie Gresham with 100 Black Men stopped by Stuart and four others to hand out hotspots to nearly 400 students Wednesday.
"It means a lot just to know that he sees us and he's helped us and really cares," Kamya said.
Many of the students Gresham met don't have access to Wi-Fi when the final bell rings. Monica Hunter, principal at Stuart Academy, said it's a serious problem.
"When you don't understand or don't know the hardships of students — of families that live right next door, right across the street from you — then you don't realize how you can actually help," Hunter said.
A recent study by the Alliance for Excellent Education shows nearly 17 million students nationwide do not have access to high-speed internet needed for virtual learning.
"Some of our kids just didn't have the access," Gresham said. "They were going to the local restaurant, fast food restaurant, to get internet access or going to a family member's house to get internet access. And in some cases, they're not able to attend."
That's the case for Cortez Wilson, a fifth-grader at Atkinson.
"All of the boys in here, we got hotspots now," Cortez said.
And although the goal is to get better grades, they gave a thumbs up when they heard they could use it for games, too.
"I wanna say thank you, because there's some kids out there that needs it," Cortez said.
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