Walmart Introduces Free Courses To Community

PLAINFIELD, IL — A free community academy is coming to Plainfield, and it's courtesy of Walmart. The company announced in a June 9 news release that its making a first-of-its-kind effort to help educate and support the communities it serves.

Classes are currently virtual, meaning anyone can register — Plainfield residents or not. It hasn't been announced when in-person classes will start at the academies.

Walmart's academies are stationed throughout the country, usually attached to one of its stores, and they're used to train employees and staff members. In Plainfield, one is located at the Walmart Supercenter, 12690 Route 59 South.

"The long-term goal was to use the academies to also help our communities, and this marks the first step," officials said in the release.

Many have likely thought at one point or another in their lives that each person might spend years in school learning about various topics, but never about the things people need to know as adults. The new community academy could help offset that gap through its course offerings. Buying a house or car, budgeting for beginners, banking basics and mastering interviews are just a few of the classes available.

“We’re proud to be one of the locations that offer the academy," said Jonathan Proulx, director of planning for Plainfield. "This would be a welcome addition to the training and education resources in the community.”

All classes — which take an hour and a half to complete — are taught by Walmart Academy facilitators, the professionals who have helped Walmart employees through more than two million training sessions, according to the company's Vice President of Learning Andy Trainor.

Trainor said in a post online that to ensure "our content is best-in-class," both the company's own subject matter experts and industry leaders were tapped to help.

Anne Hatfield, senior director of global communications at Walmart, said in a statement to Patch that the goal is to help people invest in themselves and strengthen communities.

"We don’t just do business in our communities; we’re a part of them, and we’re proud to help in this way," she said.

The initiative is an internally funded not-for-profit, and the courses will remain free, according to Hatfield.

Other Walmart Community Academies are located throughout Illinois in Peru, Crystal Lake, Orland Hills and Urbana.

Those interested in the courses can enroll here.