Community service builds more than hours

By Amir Shaffer-Mahone

Editorial Assistant

At Crete Monee High School, one of the graduation requirements for students is to complete a certain number of hours of community service. Each year, students are supposed to complete seven hours of community service, totaling 28 hours over four years.

Students need to meet their community service hours quota before they graduate. They can find opportunities throughout the school.

There are both benefits and challenges around the program, revolving around time and effort. Students have a wide range of emotions regarding the requirement.

For school counselor Timothy Wilson, the purpose of community service goes beyond the graduation requirement. He believes it helps students develop important life skills and build connections for the future.

“One is just putting yourself out there in an uncomfortable position,” Wilson said. “You may go find a site you have no familiarity with, and then you realize it’s not that bad.”

According to Wilson, experiences like community service help build skills such as communicating and working with others, building confidence, and making connections and networking. However, he still acknowledged that the requirement itself is often what motivates students to get started.

“It’s a graduation requirement, so that’s the number one thing to help people go,” he said, also adding that students ultimately “can’t graduate without these hours.”

Wilson also believes that students sometimes discover interests or passions through volunteering that they may not have found otherwise. According to Wilson, these experiences can help students become more mature and responsible over time.

He explained that volunteering teaches students how to work through situations that may feel uncomfortable at first. Whether students are helping organize events, assisting younger children, or working with adults they have never met before, they are learning skills that could help them later in jobs, college, and everyday life.

Some students volunteer through sports programs, churches, food drives, or school events, while others find opportunities around their neighborhoods and communities.

Many students already have packed schedules, making it challenging to find extra time during the week. For students involved in after-school activities or part-time jobs, fitting in volunteer hours can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Despite the intended benefits, some students feel that making community service mandatory takes away from its true meaning. Junior Justin Swafford, who has completed five hours, shared his concerns about the authenticity of the required service.

“I don’t think community service should be a graduation requirement,” Swafford said.

Swafford believes students should volunteer because they genuinely want to help people, not because they are forced to complete hours for graduation. He feels that when students are required to volunteer, some may only participate to meet the requirement rather than truly care about the work they are doing.

“It makes the community service hours seem ingenuine,” Swafford said.

Swafford also believes the school could do more to help students find opportunities by advertising events and volunteer programs more often.

“They do an alright job promoting community service,” he said. “They should do more physical advertisements.”

Some students also partially agree with counselor Timothy Wilson; junior Ayomide Olanrewaju believes community service, while beneficial, can also be a hindrance.

“People who volunteer when they’re younger volunteer when they’re older,” Olanrewaju said. Even though she believes community service can become stressful for students with busy schedules, she still thinks it can have a positive impact on students’ outlooks and understanding of others.

“It gives you perspective on other people’s lives,” she said. “You’re not the only person going through something.”

Olanrewaju also mentioned that one challenge with the program is that many students are not always aware of opportunities around them.

“I don’t know who’s doing their community service,” she said, explaining that students may benefit from more communication about events and volunteer opportunities available in the community.

While some students question the requirement, others strongly support it and believe it creates positive change among students. Junior Ayuk Enoruh, who currently has around 36 completed hours, usually volunteers through his church and has had positive experiences with community service.

“I think community service should be a graduation requirement because it promotes positive energy,” Enoruh said.

For Enoruh, volunteering has helped him become more understanding of people in different situations and has also helped him socially. He believes students become more outgoing when they participate in community service activities because they are interacting with new people and environments outside of school.

“It helps you be more understanding of other people’s circumstances,” he said. “Students are more outgoing when they are involved in community service.”

Enoruh also encourages his friends to volunteer whenever opportunities come up because he enjoys helping others and making a difference in the community.

“I go out and say to my friends to help with community service,” he said. “I like making people’s days better.”

Other students also shared positive opinions about the program. Junior Shamar Smith recently completed 14 hours of community service and said the process was easier than he had originally expected.

“Honestly, community service doesn’t seem that long,” Smith said. “You finish fast with your hours.”

Smith thinks that community service gives students the opportunity to give back to others while also completing something meaningful for themselves.

“It gives me time to give back, and giving is an important part of being human,” he said.