'Imagine being in class and a couple kids are laughing when the teacher says, 'OK, do problem 6 and 7.' And they go, '67.' And now all of a sudden, you have a chance to say '67,' Maybe you're not even friends with these kids, but in these moments, right in that second, you feel like you belong. That's not meaningless.
When students arrive in the morning, I.S. 27 collects the phones for the full school day, even during lunch and free periods. Kids adjusted quickly. One of Sepulveda's students, with no phone for distraction, brought a SpongeBob LEGO Set to use during recess. The activity got the girl and her classmates talking, so much so that they ran out of time to build it that first day.