After Spezialia found out from his band teachers about the collection of board and card games in the Gifted Resources Center (GRC), he decided to start visiting it during Ac Lab to play games with friends. 

“It’s entertaining, and I’d rather be playing games than sitting there and doing nothing when my homework is done,” Spezialia said. 

Spezialia has enjoyed playing games the few times he’s visited the GRC, and plans to visit more often. He hopes to convince more of his friends to join him. 

Maryann Immordio, gifted resource teacher, said there has been a change in students since the phone ban went into effect at the start of this school year. 

“More discussions with one another, laughing, smiles,” Immordino said. 

Immordino said she has seen students come to her Ac Lab to play card games like Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. She said she loves to see the excitement of students, even when playing a simple card game. 

Before the phone ban, Immordino said she was disappointed with the lack of interaction between students, especially during passing periods and any other downtime during the school day. 

“I’m hoping it’s gonna give them another option to see that there’s other things outside of screens, and that they will note the happiness that they have and the time they had with people that they wouldn’t necessarily have if they were on their device,” Immordino said. 

Manaswini Gunturu, senior, has also noticed students playing more online games on their Chromebooks. 

Gunturu likes to play The New York Times online games such as Connections. She uses these games as a way to keep her busy during downtime in classes. 

“I think sometimes my attention span gets really bad because it’s just a long day,” Gunturu said. 

While Gunturu is against the phone ban overall, she has learned to deal with the phone ban by finding alternative things to do in her free time.

“I would love to be on my phone, but I do think doing crossword puzzles is probably better than me texting my friends,” Gunturu said.