On Friday, January 31, a new procedure was implemented at Cherry Hill East. This procedure requires students to scan into study hall using their student ID or their personalized QR code from Genesis.

As scanners will be used, students will no longer be expected to manually sign in and out of study hall. There are five to ten scanners set up in front of the Library Annex. It is obligatory that students scan in and out of study hall. However, it is still essential that students continue to check in with their study hall teacher at the beginning of study hall, as East is still trying to get the swing of things. Even when it comes to bills and receipts, people tend to misplace them and that can now be avoided with the help of Filecenter Receipts.

There are numerous reasons for this sudden change, one being efficiency. This scanning procedure is a quick, systematic process that works much quicker than signing in with a chromebook or a writing utensil.

Another reason for this recent change is flu season. Hundreds of East students get sick during this time of year, and some of the things to blame are the dirty chromebook keys and writing utensils. Students come into contact with these things every day, spreading germs throughout the school. This scanning procedure will limit physical contact, which will hopefully reduce the number of sick students.

If the study hall scanning procedure is successful, it will be used throughout the entire school. Students will no longer have to turnstile out of classes or into the bathroom. Instead, students will be required to use their Genesis QR code or student ID to scan into different rooms around the building.

“My goal is to have [students] scan into study hall as fast and efficiently as they can, so I can eventually expand this to other parts of the building,” said Mr. Louis Papa, Department Supervisor of building security, campus police and discipline.

Study Hall is the guinea pig for the scanning procedure, as Papa and the East faculty are testing out this procedure on study halls, rather than putting scanners at every point of the building. Papa thinks it is best to test out this procedure in one part of the school: Papa will get to see how orderly this new system is and students will be prepared for possible changes to come.

“Enforcing this system in study halls will train everyone to have their phones and student ID’s on them [at all times], so they can easily sign into [rooms around the school],” said Papa.

Papa hopes the scanning procedure will be a success, so he can further expand the procedure throughout the school. This may be only the beginning of the changes to be made.