The Washoe County School Board of Trustees on Tuesday discussed the “Phones Away and Learn Today” district-wide pilot program which is officially underway, including the winners of the campaign’s PSA contest.
During the update, Trustee Coleen Westlake asked the presenters to address emergency phone usage for parents who feel anxious about the new program. She said she had seen several emails from parents concerned they wouldn’t be able to contact their students in an emergency.
School Police Chief Tracy Moore said students will not be denied communication with parents when it is safe to do so, and he understands the desire to be in contact with students during an emergency. He said even he uses an app to communicate with his children in such situations.
He said school police, administrators and the communications department work closely to send information to parents “as quickly as we can and as informative as we can during an emergency.”
He said this way, parents receive information from law enforcement and on-site administrators who have accurate updates for families. “When it’s safe to do so, we want to send that message to the parents in our community,” Moore said.
As part of the pilot program, students were asked to submit public service announcements (PSAs) in the form of posters, videos or similar artwork.
The district received several contributions, and five projects were selected.
- Isabella Buscunan Fernandez of Incline Middle School was selected for her video submission.
- Gavin Cates, Jack Egan, Arek Engelke, Sonia Gustavson and Gio Whittey of AACT were selected for their video submission.
- Madeline Fisher of Wooster High School was selected for her bilingual informational poster submission.
- Sophia Anderson of Spanish Springs High School was selected for her graphic poster submission.
- Liepa Etchegoyhen, Colin Pilcher, Bebe Slater and Sophia Valdez of Reno High School were selected for their video submission.
Each can be viewed here.
All winners received a $25 gift card to Scheels, and their PSAs have already been circulating on-site at schools, as well as on district websites and social media. Smith commended district leadership and Superintendent Joe Ernst for seeking student input on the PSAs.
“When we’re doing it together, we’re going to make progress,” Superintendent Joe Ernst said.
We are thrilled to announce the winners of our school district’s ‘Phones Away and Learn Today’ PSA contest!
After receiving numerous creative and impactful submissions from students across the district, our panel of judges had the difficult task of selecting the top entries. Each PSA focused on the importance of minimizing distractions and staying focused on learning by putting away phones and other electronic devices during school hours.
Without further ado, the winners are:
1st Place: Amelia Smith, 10th grade
2nd Place: David Nguyen, 11th grade
3rd Place: Maya Patel, 9th grade
Congratulations to all the winners! Your hard work and dedication to spreading this important message is truly commendable.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the students who participated in the contest. Your creativity and passion for promoting a positive learning environment did not go unnoticed.
Thank you to everyone who supported this initiative and helped make it a success. Together, we can continue to encourage a culture of focus and productivity in our schools.
Stay tuned for updates on how these winning PSAs will be shared throughout the district to inspire others to put their phones away and learn today!
#PhonesAwayAndLearnToday #PSAContestWinners #FocusOnLearning
Tags:
- School district PSA contest
- Phones Away and Learn Today
- School district winners
- Education PSA contest
- School district announcement
- Phone use in schools
- Education awareness campaign
- Student creativity contest
- School district community involvement
- Digital learning initiative
#Winners #announced #school #districts #Phones #Learn #Today #PSA #contest
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.