By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
It’s not what you think. A Dragon Cell-Out is a Lake Orion High School student who chose to give up their cell phone last Friday, January 15, to help raise awareness, and funds, for the more than 290,000 Americans stationed around the world. Most of those deployed cannot make calls home on a regular basis, so a small group of students last year came up with the idea to Cell-Out for Soldiers as part of the national Cell Phones for Soldiers organization. The national group was created by a 12-year-old boy from Massachusetts in 2004.
Since that time, Cell Phones For Soldiers has provided U.S. troops with more than 220 million ‘Minutes That Matter? and distributed more than 3 million prepaid international calling cards.
When Lake Orion got a hold of this, they started their own idea, Cell Out for Soldiers. For every cell phone that was put away for the seven hours last Friday, the Student Leadership group donated $1.
Out of 2,237 high school students, 1,860 participated, raising $1,860 for the national program. Students also collected separate donations throughout the day, and raised another $1,000.
About 83 percent of the student population participated this round, a bit higher than last year, according to Student Leadership Secretary Hannah Koncelik, a senior.
‘It’s a really cool idea, and it’s unique because no other school in the nation does it,? Koncelik said. ‘We were trying this year to make it on headline news, the Ellen show, stuff like that.?
Students also hosted two dine-in events at Culver’s and Buffalo Wild Wings to help raise money, earning $1,050.
Plus, they had to talk to each other, face to face, all day long.
‘It’s like the 1960s when you don’t even have a phone, it’s a good thing to partake in,? Junior Chris Wilson said. ‘You know, we use our phones a lot, and we’ve actually been talking to our friends face to face instead of everyone looking at their phone distracted.?
‘Your friends aren’t ignoring you when they’re on their phone either,? his twin brother Shawn Wilson said.