Pierce Puts Down the Phones and Computers
By Garett Riedel
The Pierce High students and staff will have the opportunity to participate in the second annual cell phone challenge, which consists of students turning in their phones on Wednesday, April 10 at the end of the day and getting them back on Friday at the end of the day.
Reflecting on last year’s success with the no phone challenge, Mr. Gary Shada states, “The bonus points affected them (students) in a positive way. Some students were able to obtain a better overall GPA because they went to the next level in terms of a B to a B+ or a B+ to an A-, and I'm happy with that because they were willing to make that sacrifice.”
All students and staff will be participating in low tech days by turning in their computers to their 1st period teachers on Thursday, April 11, and getting them back on Friday, April 12, in their study hall period. Seniors will be getting their computers back at 3:00 p.m. while everyone else will be getting their computer back at 3:20. The jr. high track students will be getting their computers back from their first period teachers.
“I want to allow our students two full days to live life in a much simpler fashion. To have students focus on what is most important: what they are doing in class, what they are doing in their extracurricular activities, and what they are doing with their families” principal Mark Brahmer states. “When I grew up, it was a much simpler time and exposure to everything that is out there on social media. When I was growing up, I had some kids who were knotheads to me in school, and when I went home, they couldn't get to me because there was no way to get to me. But nowadays, you can go home and Johnny and Jimmy can still get to you on whatever avenue that you have on your phone, whether it's a text message or Snapchat or whatever it might be. So, that is one thing that I would like to eliminate and some of the garbage that some kids spend their time watching rather than spending time with their family, their friends or playing or just hanging out and conversing and interacting instead of watching some garbage that is available on social media or the internet. You name it, I just want to narrow our kids' focus for 2 days. From that experience, I hope many of the kids say, 'You know what? I need to be more self-disciplined in how I go about my business day in and day out.'"
The reward for completing the cell phone challenge is students will get 25 bonus points to use on any test or homework, and they will also be about to get out of school at 2:24 p.m. on certain days.
