At Walmart, many of the members of its essential workforce are high schoolers set to graduate this May. The East Point location alone hires more than 100 students each year who typically attend school in Atlanta and South Fulton County.
The East Point store has announced that starting today it will honor its seniors with Wal-Chella Senior Week, a Beychella-themed celebration. Co-manager Robert Belcher says that while he knows his teen employees are mourning missed proms and other activities, he hopes that the in-store events will be something fun that they’ll always remember.
“The goal is to create the memories that they would ultimately miss,” said Belcher. “Of course this won’t replace the actual memories they would have had at school but I wanted to give the hardworking seniors something to look forward to, especially because they are working hard each day to serve our community.”
The daily events planned are inspired by hit songs performed by Beyonce at the world-famous Coachella music festival. Prizes will be awarded and employees will vote for senior superlatives during the week. On Saturday, students will wear attire representing the colleges they will attend in the fall and have their photos taken for the graduation board. On Sunday, they’ll come dressed in their best attire, and a king and queen will be named.
At the corporate level, Walmart is rolling out initiatives to support its employees on the front lines of the pandemic, including bonuses for hourly employees. Local efforts to show employees appreciation emphasize just how much they are relied upon by retailers and customers.
“They have been extremely busy making sure we have products available for the customers during this pandemic and making sure we have enough associates to check out the thousands of people that are rushing to our stores,” said Belcher. “We wanted to take a moment to do something for them.”
Photo: Congratulations to Marqavis Hayes, an employee at the Walmart location in East Point and a member of Banneker High School’s Class of 2020. (Credit: Walmart)