Dragon Voices: Community Service
Credit: Abigail Massar / The Foothill Dragon Press
June 4, 2018
The Community Service Requirement at Foothill obligates students to volunteer for at least 75 hours by the end of their senior year. Foothill recommends doing 25 hours every year. Is this a reasonable requirement for students over the course of four years? Here’s what nine dragons had to say about it.
Students like Lyric Hill ‘21, Daniel Guzman ‘18 and Aubrey Paul ‘18 think the requirement is beneficial for three basic reasons. For one, it helps students with little to no work experience gain work ethic. Two, it’s great for college applications. Three, “it allows people to help out the community,” said Guzman.
Other students like Jaina Malach ‘18, Jakob Villaseñor ‘18 and Morgan Stevenson ‘19 didn’t feel that the requirement was beneficial to them.
Villaseñor felt that he wasn’t giving back the community at all, “I didn’t really do much, I went to a thrift store [and] smashed furniture.”
However, there was a consensus among the eight students. Though they understood there has to be a punishment for not fulfilling the total 75 hours, the punishment of not being able to walk at graduation is harsh considering all the other work students have accumulated over the course of four years.
Mrs. Luna • May 22, 2019 at 4:50 pm
I agree that it may be time to rethink the community service requirements, but I don’t believe athletes should have lower hour requirements than other students. All students decide what extra curricular activities they want to participate in, some may select school athletics, clubs or outside school activities. Would we then excuse those involved in outside school activities or campus clubs? That is their choice and it should not excuse them from hours of community service others are required to attain. It needs to be fair and the same across the board.
Mr. Sanchez • Apr 26, 2019 at 3:10 pm
As a parent of a Foothill alumni I feel community service hours should be lowered for athletes.My son had a very difficult time between daily practice including Saturdays and fulfilling the required 75 hours of community service.Maybe something like 40 hours for student athletes would be a more just amount of time.
Anonymous Alumni • Jun 7, 2018 at 8:49 pm
As an alumni, I am thankful that we were required to do community service. 75 hours is not much time over she span of four years and knowing that you cannot walk without doing the work is good motivation. As a fairly unsuccessful student in high school, I learned more to succeed in college through volunteering than I did in my classes at Foothill. If students choose an organization that teaches them to engage with people and build connections with adults, they’ll get more out of their service than if they destroy furniture at a thrift store.
Eulau • Jun 5, 2018 at 5:16 pm
I think it is time to rethink the community service requirement.