[BHS Etree] ADMIN: Yondr Appeal

[BHS Etree]

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact HasmigMinassian at berkeley.net
<HasmigMinassian at berkeley.net?subject=> for more information.


Dear BHS Community:


For the past 5-7 years at Berkeley High School, teachers have found
classroom cell phone use to be increasingly alarming and distracting.
Teachers have tried a variety of classroom cell phone policies but without
the consistency of a whole school model, we've made little headway.


This school year, the Universal 9th Grade is piloting the *Yondr pouch*.
The Yondr system is one used by several local districts to manage
technology with a simple magnetic locking pouch.  Upon entering a
classroom, a student will pick up a neoprene pouch, insert their phone, and
snap it shut (it locks).  They keep the phone in their possession the whole
time (in their backpack) and upon leaving the classroom, they tap the pouch
against a magnetic base and release the lock.  They take their phone and
leave the pouch for the next user.  The communal ritual of this system,
along with the phone being all the way out of sight, removes the power
struggle that so many teachers face when trying to get students to put
their phones away, one at a time.  In the first four weeks of school, the
Yondr pouch has made a huge difference!


Initial funding for U9 Yondr Project was provided through a U9 grant from
the Berkeley Public Schools Fund.  In September, the Berkeley High School
Development Group voted to provide the next $5000, but *an additional $6000
is still needed to fund this pilot for the entire school year.*


*Please consider donating to the U9 Yondr Project.*  We truly believe this
will change the culture around cell phones in class and allow for both
students and teachers to dedicate and focus their time on what the
classroom is for: learning and teaching.


To make a donation, please mail checks to BHSDG,  P.O. Box 519, Berkeley,
CA, 94701, with the “U9 Yondr Fund” in the memo or donate online at
http://bhsdg.org/wp/u9/.



Thank you,


Tonia Coleman Hasmig Minassian

Vice Principal, U9 U9 Teacher Leader



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