NORWOOD PARK — Taft High School Principal Mark Grishaber is offering to ease the ban on students using cell phones on campus — for a price.
Grishaber laid out a series of challenges Wednesday for each grade level to meet in return for permission to use their cell phones and iPods in the cafeteria during their lunch period.
"I think they'll be able to do it," Grishaber said.
Heather Cherone says the new principal has ushered in a new culture to start the year:
At least 1,400 freshmen, sophomores and juniors must fill out an online survey by Monday that Chicago Public Schools officials will use to evaluate schools' athletic programs to earn the right to watch adorable cat videos on YouTube.
At least 120 seniors must register to vote by Monday — one day before the deadline to register for November's elections — to earn the privilege of listening to some tunes while scarfing French fries.
And at least 96 percent of the students in the school's seventh- and eighth-grade Academic Center must come to class this week to earn the right to text their BFF during lunch.
Grishaber, who was an assistant principal at Whitney Young High School before being tapped to take over Taft, said a revised cell phone policy was a "no brainer."
"We can't police it," Grishaber said, adding that the new policy is in line with the rules at Whitney Young and other top high schools in Chicago.
Since Taft does not allow students to go off campus to eat, many are left with nothing to do for most of the 50-minute lunch period. That can lead to "horseplay" and other issues, Grishaber said.
"They finish eating in 25 minutes and then they get antsy," Grishaber said. "This will give them something to do."
A revised cell phone policy would be the latest in a series of changes made at Taft by Grishaber, who has vowed to turn Taft into one of the city's best high schools and to improve its less-than-stellar reputation.
Grishaber said the repeal of the Far Northwest Side school's uniform dress code last month has been an unqualified success, with the vast majority of students dressing appropriately — and ending security guards' and teachers' role as the "fashion police."
"This is part of my effort to slowly treat the students like adults and have them take responsibility for their education," Grishaber said. "There is a good buzz around the school."
Part of that buzz has to do with the series of short, humorous videos Grishaber has made in recent weeks urging students to get to campus by 7:30 a.m. in order to be ready for their first class at 7:45 a.m.
The first video featured Grishaber pretending to perform BMX bike tricks, while two others featured the school choir bursting into song and finally a virtuoso performance on the drums by another youthful student double for Grishaber. The next video will be math-focused, Grishaber said.
In the first weeks of school, the number of students late to their first-period class dropped 33 percent, and the September attendance rate was 96 percent — up from 91 percent in 2013, Grishaber said.
"I can't take all the credit," Grishaber said, adding that he often directs traffic in the mornings before school and encourages students to get a move on. "The kids are happy to be here."
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