Shorecrest Upper School Phone-Free Challenge
Shorecrest Upper School students ended 2024 with a Phone-Free Challenge. The objective of the challenge was simple: spend four whole school days without a phone. The challenge took place over Monday, December 9 through Thursday, December 12. Participation was optional but highly encouraged; as the grade level with the highest participation rate by the end of the challenge was promised free donuts! Some students chose to participate for all four days, others for none, and some fell somewhere between the two. For this challenge, students had to leave their phones in the office for the whole school day, meaning that they dropped their phones off before 8:30am and picked them up sometime after 3:30pm.
Specifically engineered for students in grades nine through twelve, the challenge was designed to reduce phone usage during the school day in hopes of encouraging more conversation between friends and peers. A nice way to end off the first semester, right?
Now for the moment of truth: the results. At the end of the fourth day, the sophomores (Class of 2027) came in fourth place with an average participation rate of 6.8% of students. In third place, the seniors (Class of 2025) ended with an average participation rate of 9.8% of students. The runner up was the Class of 2028 with an average participation rate of 39.4% of students. The juniors (Class of 2026) were the winners of the 2024 Phone-Free Challenge with an average participation rate of 40.5% of students.
Nicholas Canizares ‘26 stated, “I’m proud to be a part of the grade of reigning champions of the Phone-Free Challenge. I hope we can win again next year!”
Overall the challenge was a huge success. With results like these, there is no doubt that the Phone-Free Challenge will become one of the many Shorecrest Upper School traditions we know and love.