At LSHS, students must complete 45 hours of community service before May of their senior year in order to graduate. Community service is work provided free of charge for the betterment of a community. Fortunately for students, there are many organizations, events, clubs and classes that provide the opportunity to complete any required hours.
“The [Lake Stevens Food Bank] is always an opportunity. You can do the food drive which is every weekend, the pantry breakfast every third Saturday of the month and then winter festivals that are going on,” Gina Buckmiller, Career Center support said.
Another way to get involved in the community is by taking certain classes.
“In yearbook, I’m allowed to do five events and get two hours at each event maximum,” senior Travis Palmer said.
Students enrolled in certain classes can earn community service hours by helping with events at the school like assemblies, sporting events and other events that require students to spend time outside of school.
There are also clubs that offer community service. Clubs like the Key Club and Interact Club both offer community service.
“It’s more of a local thing, like every meeting we go out, we ask teachers who might need help with things like sorting out work, or help cleaning tables… helping set up activities for the next day,” sophomore Dayana Padilla said.
Interact Club also helps clean up the campus and adopted 113th Street that runs in front of LSHS, which they clean at least once each quarter. Padilla also said that every club meeting is one hour of community service, and two hours if students go down to Ashley Pointe Senior Living.
Buckmiller encouraged students not to wait until the last minute to finish any community service and not to look at it as a chore, but instead as a way of giving back to the community.
Many different chances to earn community service hours present themselves throughout the three years students are at the school, and it’s up to them to take advantage of them.
