Scranton Resident Named WAVE 25k Sign Up

By: Barbara Jenkins

Imagine working all day at your place of work, going home for the evening, and realizing that you need to finish up a project for the next day. The ideal option would be to open your laptop from the comfort of your couch. However, you don’t have high-speed internet at home, so after dinnertime, you say goodbye to your family, load up, and drive back to the office. 

That’s the reality that Tracy Schwartz has faced for years as the owner of Rocket Zone Preschool in Scranton, Arkansas.

Tracy has owned the Rocket Zone Preschool since 2015. The privately owned and operated school is located on the Scranton School District campus and hosts about 30 area children from 3 to 5 years of age. The focus is on Kindergarten readiness.  

As a business owner, Tracy sometimes must work beyond the general work schedule of 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. 

“I take attendance online and complete a lot of paperwork online for our food program and fall registration.”

That meant Tracy would either stay at the office late or return after spending time with her family in the evenings.

 “We had [another internet provider] at home and were not pleased,” says Tracy. “We didn’t have internet at home. It was inconvenient because I couldn’t take my work home without using a hotspot.”

Tracy’s luck changed earlier this spring when Wave Rural Connect secured a grant to build high-speed broadband internet in the township of Scranton. 

“I heard good reviews of WAVE, talking about the speed and efficiency of the service. We knew we had to try it.”

Tracy and her family became WAVE’s 25,000th customer to sign up for the service. Although Tracy finds that fact exciting, she is most excited about her ability to have high-speed internet from the comfort of her home. 

“Now that I have fast internet, things are much easier. I can work from home in the evenings, and my husband, who is self-proclaimed a non-internet fan, can be found on his phone a little more than usual. My daughters, who are currently university students, can come home on the weekends and work on homework, and my grandkids can stream their favorite shows.”

Tracy also shared that the experience with WAVE was “very streamlined” with no issues. 

Congratulations Tracy! We hope you and all of our other customers continue to enjoy WAVE!