GILLETTE, Wyo. ¬– Two months into the school year, students at Twin Spruce Junior High School in Gillette know the drill. Before the bell rings, their cell phones go in the numbered pouches hanging on the wall near eighth-grade English teacher Bridget Graham’s desk. Like other schools in the Campbell County District, Twin Spruce teachers choose whether students can have phones in class. Graham has opted for a no cell phone policy, meaning students turn in their devices before class, but can use them in between and at lunchtime.

Jeremiah Peery has long been interested in mastering the Spanish language. Peery, a 35-year-old sergeant with the Jackson Police Department, has studied Spanish since middle school and even enrolled his 7-year-old son in a dual-language program at a local public school.