Tucson, Arizona Sunday, 7 December 2003
Chris Richards / Staff
 Salpointe senior Maeve Shaughnessy, 17, volunteers at the Humane Society. |
The trend is spreading in government classes across the country
By Jennifer Sterba
ARIZONA DAILY STAR Not all high school students are spending their time off
mulling over whether to see the latest "Matrix" installment.
Some are serving dinner to the homeless, spending quality time with someone's
grandmother or cleaning kennels.
What once was considered punishment for minor offenses like vandalism has now
become a requirement in some high school government classes. It's a trend that
could gain momentum as states strive to create standards in social studies,
including civic education, to comply with federal legislation.
A report released earlier this year endorsed making community service a standard
in civic education.
"I think they should require it," said 17-year-old Donna Owen, a senior
at Flowing Wells High School. "There's a lot of kids who never would have
started that keep doing it."
Last year, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement
and the Carnegie Corp. of New York held a series of meetings with nationally
recognized scholars to define effective civic education.
"Civic education should help young people acquire and learn to use the
skills, knowledge and attitudes that will prepare them to be competent and responsible
citizens throughout their lives," the report said.
To achieve that, schools must "design and implement programs that provide
students with the opportunity to apply what they learn through performing community
service that is linked to the formal curriculum and formal instruction."
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Maryland was the first state to make community service a graduation requirement
10 years ago, according to Education Week, an education-industry journal. While
Arizona state education officials say they aren't considering incorporating
it into their state standards, the trend is catching on locally.
Flowing Wells and Catalina Foothills unified school districts require high school
seniors to log volunteer hours. Mountain View High School in the Marana Unified
School District does so as well.
Salpointe Catholic High School, a private school on Tucson's North Side, offers
more than one class in which students are required to volunteer.
Philippe Labadie, 17, and Peter Kim, 16, both juniors at Salpointe, spend their
afternoons walking dogs and cleaning cat cages at the Humane Society of Southern
Arizona.
Both are required to volunteer 10 hours for a social action class.
The noise on doggie row was deafening as Labadie and Kim walked down the long
corridor. Swinging leashes alerted the canines that two of them were going to
go for a walk in the sun.
"I have a dog of my own and I want people to treat their dogs the same
way I treat mine," Labadie said.
After requiring its seniors to volunteer 10 hours in order to graduate, Flowing
Wells decided to double the requirement two years ago. Some teachers said they
felt 10 hours was too easy and not meaningful enough to students, Owen said.
Owen has met her assignment by volunteering to help out with freshman orientation
and working with Habitat for Humanity. She's also worked with younger students
at Walter Douglas Elementary School - just down the street from the high school.
"We keep a journal - how many hours you spend where," Owen said.
"You have to write a before and after report on what you learned."
The Carnegie report encourages teachers to give students a role in designing
their own projects and reflecting on them.
Flowing Wells requires its students to volunteer in at least three places.
Spending two 10-hour shifts near Election Day doesn't count, said Kim Nutbrown,
Flowing Wells volunteer coordinator. Nutbrown compiles a list each year of examples
of places or events where students can volunteer.
"There are those kids who wait until the end of the school year,"
Nutbrown said. "But a lot of them come in at the beginning of the year
and have their own ideas."
Aisha Zadran, a 16-year-old junior at Flowing Wells, was in the latter group.
"I wanted to work with little kids because I had little brothers and not
a girl to look up to," she said.
Zadran is now somebody else's big sister - volunteering for the local chapter
of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Catalina Foothills requires five hours from its students as part of a pass/fail
homebase class that meets intermittently throughout the school year.
"The students then report to the homebase teacher their status in terms
of community service," said Wagner Van Vlack, principal at Catalina Foothills
High School.
"There may be a reflection piece."
Van Vlack said meeting the five hours can be as simple as helping an elderly
neighbor. Foothills students don't have to have a car to meet the requirement,
which appears on a transcript as pass or fail.
"Eighty to 90 percent come out saying, 'I'm going to continue volunteering,'
" said Laura Steele, a Mountain View High School social studies teacher.
"Or 'I'm really glad you made us.' They're really glad for the experience."
Marana Unified doesn't have a districtwide requirement. But Mountain View High
School does expect 10 hours of service from its seniors through their government
class.
"The idea behind it is to build a stronger community," said Mountain
View Principal Richard Faidley.
Student volunteers at the Humane Society account for a third of the total regular
volunteers, about 40 out of 120, staff members said.
While those volunteers enjoy working with the animals, other students say they
like meeting a variety of people.
"They're people who pursue the same things you do - because you want to
help others," Zadran said.
Owen agreed. She said she spent last Friday at Walter Douglas, teaching younger
students about volunteering and showing them that not all "big kids"
are scary.
"We did the Hokey Pokey (dance). I was smiling the whole time," Owen
said. "I wasn't even having a good day. But I just couldn't stop smiling."
* Contact reporter Jennifer Sterba at 573-4191 or at jsterba@azstarnet.com.