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GIG INTERNET SERVICES GIVE WEST FAMILY FLEXIBILITY TO WORK AND STUDY AT HOME

BY LISA SAVAGE

Most mornings, Aaron West works at five computers set up in his home office. He might communicate with developers in the Ukraine on Skype or chat with co-workers near Nashville.

Meanwhile, in another room in the house, his wife, Becca, wraps up an online teaching session with a group of Chinese students. And the couple’s children, Ariana and Chloe, start their day with online home-school classes. “We are all online — working or doing classwork — at the same time,” says Aaron West. “We couldn’t do this if we didn’t have a gig from Ben Lomand Connect.”

West and his family relocated from Spring Hill, Tennessee, last year to be near his wife’s parents in the Crossville area. “One of the first questions we asked the real estate agent when we were looking at houses was about access to high-speed internet,” West says.

They settled in a Crossville subdivision that is one of the locations where Ben Lomand Connect has installed fast, reliable, fiber internet service capable of speeds up to 1 Gbps. “It’s working out perfectly for us,” he says.

Chloe and Ariana West work on their homework at the kitchen table.

Becca West teaches English to Chinese children via the internet.

THE MOVE

Originally from Kentucky, Aaron and Becca West met in college. They married and lived in North Dakota for four years before moving in 2008 to the Nashville area. Aaron West worked for radio host Dave Ramsey for a few years. His wife’s parents lived in Minnesota before moving to Crossville.

Now, West runs his own business, an audio/video consulting firm geared to churches. He also works for MediaShout, a software company based in Franklin, Tennessee. He goes to the office twice a month and works from home the rest of the time.

As director of user experience and customer service support, his job varies. He currently focuses on software development with a group in the Ukraine. He communicates through Skype daily. “Obviously, having a gig of fiber internet helps significantly,” he says. “I don’t have to worry about losing connectivity, and it’s a great picture and sound.”

Before the Wests relocated to Crossville, Becca West taught sixth-grade science in Spring Hill, and the children were enrolled in schools there. “When we decided to move, we didn’t want to move the kids from one school to another in the middle of the school year, so we decided that I would stay home and we would use a home-school program,” she says.

Meanwhile, she learned about a work-from-home online program called Gogokid, which would allow her to teach English to Chinese students. She applied and started teaching last fall as an independent contractor. The program integrates technology and education for language learning, offering one-on-one online language lessons based on the U.S.’s Common Core State Standards and the Chinese standard curriculum through a virtual classroom infused with cuttingedge technology.

She gets up at 4:30 a.m., has her morning coffee and teaches from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. She could teach more, but those hours fit her family’s schedule.

West taught science for years but says she enjoys teaching children to speak English at lower levels, focusing on things like colors, sentence structure and basic communication skills. She also takes online classes through Arizona State University as she pursues a certification in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. The flexibility of online classes fits her schedule perfectly. “In one day, I did a week’s worth of work,” she says.

HOME-SCHOOL FOR THE KIDS

For home schooling, the West family chose Abeka Academy, a Christian-based, accredited, comprehensive distancelearning program for kindergarten through 12th grade. Classes use on-demand videos and other interactive platforms. Ariana, a sixth-grader, uses an iPad and works at the dining room table. Chloe, a third-grader, has a laptop at a desk in another room. The girls’ school day starts at 8 a.m. when they log in to access classes streaming to their devices.

The first session, a Bible class, requires little help from their mother, so she wraps up her work by 8:30 a.m., then joins the girls to provide any assistance they may need for the rest of the day. “It’s like having private school at home,” she says. “Both girls say they learn more than in a traditional classroom setting.”

Ariana loves being around people, and that’s been the biggest adjustment. However, they have scheduled activities with home-school students in their area and church services on Sunday mornings as well as Sunday and Wednesday nights.

“It gives us the time and flexibility we need,” Becca West says. “As long as we have internet service, we can have class anywhere. It’s working out so well to have this ability at home. It’s the best of both worlds.”

The family doesn’t use a cable or satellite television provider, because Ben Lomand’s gig service provides enough bandwidth to stream their favorite shows. With two smart TVs and various devices, they can watch shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other platforms.

“Having access to gig internet really makes such a difference in our lives,” Aaron West says.

Aaron and Becca West with their children, Chloe, left, and Ariana.