CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s no secret that virtual learning at the start of the pandemic took a major toll on students and their families.
“We wanted to provide something that was engaging and fun and kept students learning," XcelerateNC co-founder Aditi Sengupta said.
That’s why Aditi and her brother Anirudh started Xcelerate NC.
“Free online lessons for kindergarteners through 5th graders in public speaking and math," Aditi said, outlining her specialties.
The Charlotte non-profit was founded in June 2020. Aditi, a junior at Ardrey Kell High School, teaches public speaking, but it's not the only course in her tool belt.
“Reading and English and very essential grammar skills, writing skills as well," she noted.
Anirudh, a 6th grader at Community House Middle School, teaches the math portion of the program.
“Simple computations all the way to algebra," he noted.
For 30 minutes to an hour the two offer classes to local students in both areas through workshops, weekly sessions, and competitions at no cost. Their reach goes beyond the Charlotte area; they have students in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and India as well.
“Even though I was teaching, I learned a lot from them," Aditi told us.
The two siblings are also using their non-profit to give back to the community.
“We did encourage parents to contribute to various causes including $500 to breast cancer," Aditi said.
Their non-profit's first Xpress Math Workshop and Competition last December also raised funds for the CMS Exceptional Children's Program.
“We wanted to reach out and try our best to help where we could be useful," she remarked.
This Saturday, Xcelerate is hosting an online International Panel to discuss the effect of the pandemic on the education of children globally. The goal of this moderated panel-based discussion is to learn and share the different perspectives on the topic from educators, students, and mental health professionals.