The pupils in Mrs. Greenblatt’s 2nd-grade class at Tripp Elementary School in Buffalo Grove are working on their reading, writing and . . . area codes?
Unlike some adults, if you ask these pupils about the new 847 area code, they know all about it.
Except they’re not sure what happened to the old area code.
“I think it went to another country,” said one child.
But they do know that, starting next Saturday in their community, the area code will officially change to 847 from 708. They know this in part because their teacher, Andrea “Andi” Greenblatt, has added learning about the changes in the area code system around the Chicago metropolitan area to her class curriculum.
Earlier this year, Greenblatt’s pupils learned about directions and using the telephone. But this piece of the puzzle, learning about the new area code, is “probably one of the most important things the kids are learning,” Greenblatt said. “Many of them are at home after school or in a day-care situation and they might have to reach their parents who may be in a different area code.”
Learning about the new area code also introduces a new way for pupils to think about telephone numbers–something they’ll have to do in the future, she added.
“For so long, we’ve thought of our phone number as a seven-digit number. Now kids will have to think of a phone number as having 10 numbers–the area code and the number.”
For her lessons in area code changes, Greenblatt has been using educational materials developed by Ameritech Corp. The phone company has distributed packets to some 1,800 elementary and junior high schools in the communities where the 847 area code was introduced in January, replacing the former 708.
Distribution of the kits, which began earlier this month, has been timed to remind the public that come next Saturday, the grace period for dialing in the new area code ends, said Lisa Kim, an Ameritech spokeswoman. On that date, calls will not go through using the 708 area code, and callers will get a recording telling them they must use 847.
The 847 area code covers Cook County suburbs north and northwest of the city, most of Lake County, the portion of McHenry County that was in 708 and the northern portion of Kane County.
The kits were also designed to address concerns raised by critics of the new area code plcan who said changing the numbers would prove too confusing for youngsters, particularly those in the lower grades who were just learning their telephone numbers.
The kit offers teachers a variety of examples they can use to include area code learning in their lesson plans in areas ranging from mathematics to art.
Younger pupils can practice counting by doing a connect-the-dot design that reveals the number 847. There are blank boxes to practice writing their home numbers and the new area code. And there are visual identification exercises using telecommunication equipment such as cellular phones, pagers, fax machines and computer modems.
If they feel artistic, pupils can paint or color their creations. Junior high students can wrestle with math word problems using area codes in the scenario.
An example: If Meg lives in Western Springs, which has a 708 area code, and she has to call her mother, who works in Rosemont, what area code must she dial? (The answer: 847.)
But whether teaching about the new area code will become the rule at schools across the metropolitan area remains to be seen.
Most teachers contacted said they’ll wait to decide whether the kits are useful. Others said they don’t think it’s necessary to address this issue in class because the pupils seem to be getting the information at home.
“We really haven’t done anything specific in terms of teaching about the new area code and we haven’t been experiencing any great difficulty in our schools because of the change,” said Jackie Krause, principal at Algonquin Road School in Fox River Grove. The school has 420 pupils in kindergarten through 5th grade.
“Our teachers have talked about the changes in their classes, but I think that it’s being taken care of at home,” she said.
At Robert Frost Junior High School in Schaumburg, a school with 700 7th and 8th graders, Principal Daniel Farinosi plans to include an information letter to parents, from Ameritech’s kit, in the school’s annual registration update, a district-wide effort that takes place each May.
“We’re just glad they had this grace period to ease in the introduction of the change,” Farinosi said.
Ameritech plans to do a similar education outreach when the second new area code, 630, is introduced in August, Kim said. That number will serve DuPage County and the portions of Kendall and Will Counties now in 708.
