On Wednesday, October 10th, the GW/SI Cell Phone team visited Anacostia High School at the invitation of Principal William Haith. Principal Haith and Director of Logistics and Strategy Da Silva explained their new Yondr Pouch program, which they are using to help students learn new ways to integrate cellular phones with academic life.
Essentially, students place their phone into a protective pouch at the beginning of the day, and then unlock the phone before they leave school at the end of the day. The vast majority of students are able to keep their pouches (containing their phones) with them during the day). We were able to witness the program at work at the end of the day. The entire school was able to unlock individual Yondr pouches and depart in 8 minutes and 32 seconds! It was an efficient undertaking that has fostered considerable trust between the students, administrators, and teachers.
We look forward to future work with Anacostia High!