What Community Service has your child done that is actually meaningful?

<p>Everyone seems to want to see a devotion to community service these days. National Honor Society wants 15 hours before you can be admitted. The school wants at least 100 hours during the high school career. Colleges ask about it.</p>

<p>But it seems like the opportunities-especially for the under 16 set - are not particulary meaningful. The public library is one of the only orgs that take 14 and 15 year olds. They put them behind a desk passing out materials about the summer reading program. The high school students can volunteer to help run booths at the elementary school carnivals. These things all give them their "hours" but don't inspire a lot of desire to do more and more of the same. Plus, it would really sound pathetic if asked about in a college interview.</p>

<p>What have your kids found to do that has real meaning to them? My son is doing a "Denim Drive" for a local school clothes closet for his Eagle Project, so that will give him something to talk about at interviews. I fear, however, that my daughter will be the "grab a few hours here and there" type unless she finds something that really speaks to her.</p>

<p>Kids do CS because they have to. Most CS opportunities don't have any lasting impact on the kids.</p>

<p>My d volunteered as a Spanish translator in a low income clinic. She found it to be a valuable experience in many ways and it has helped to influence her current career interests.</p>

<p>She had also tried working for Habitat for Humaninty, but for some reason (likely insurance), our local chapter would not let kids under 18 on construction sites. She worked for awhile in their retail store, it was not really the hands on experience she was looking for.</p>

<p>I disagree with CTTC, not ALL kids do it because they have to. Mine did her share of less meaningful Honor Society volunteering, but then she went looking for something that was fulfilling and interesting. I just don't think you can generalize, community service, like anything else, is what YOU make it.</p>

<p>My boys, now sophs in high school, have been volunteering at a local nursing home/rehab center on the weekend. This started in 7th grade. They stopped during 8th grade but restarted in 9th grade and are pretty committed to this virtually year 'round. Without getting into too many details in order to protect their privacy, they were just supposed to be serving coffee/tea/cookies to residents in a public area, but they are quite talented musically. So, they began giving mini-concerts for the residents at the same time. When the weather is good, they play different instruments outside in a garden area where residents and guests gather, and when the weather is cold/inclement they play a different instrument indoors. They have quite a set of "groupies," albeit "older" ones. They learned how to play musical selections from the '30's, 40's and 50's to appeal to their crowd. I volunteer with them and I would say that it has proven to be a very rewarding experience for them. They are much more relaxed interacting with the seniors than they were when they were 13 years old. They intend to keep doing this throughout high school.</p>

<p>Edit X-posted with CTTC. I thoroughly disagree with your position on this. Not all kids do CS because they have to. Mine added the musical component on their own. They could have just stood behind a cart and poured coffee and tea, and it would have been CS. This is really meaningful for them and the residents LOVE hearing them play.</p>

<p>For her G.S. Gold Award back in h.s., D designed and taught a free 4-week class (at the local library, which at least here is very open to working with students) in Flash computer animation, for late-elementary school kids. It was both fun and meaningful for her. S1 plays guitar and sometimes piano with a student-run group at his h.s. which visits a retirement home regularly to play music. Not an innovative thing but both meaningful and satisfying to him. (Gee, I hope the folks at the retirement home appreciate Iron & Wine! :) )</p>

<p>My son who is a senior now. Did the following that are meaningful</p>

<p>Key Club- four years and president his senior year. Many projects during the year in conjunction with the local Kiwanis Club including Xmas Trees, Concerts, rummage sales, car washes, etc. </p>

<p>Amnesty International- Increased awareness of oppressed humanity around the world. Did fund raising including local concerts, car washes, etc. </p>

<p>His most meaningful project was one that he did on his own. He developed a website that produces podcasts for student to access for AP European History study guides. He has students all across the country that listen to these podcasts and these will be available for years to come. His website is
Hank’s</a> History Hour</p>

<p>My daughter who is a sophomore is very involved in Friendship Circle. She really enjoys the weekly interaction with mentally impaired children. The club usually has a event each weekend where the club members meet for some kind interaction with these kids. This has been very rewarding and she is now thinking that this is an area that she would like to pursue for her career.</p>

<p>Can she volunteer in a Girl Scout group? I had a couple of HS girls who helped the the Brownie troops I had. Can she sew blankets for the Linus project? Collect games and books for the Children's Hospital? Volunteer in an animal shelter? Our library encourages volunteers to read to children in the library so parents can browse. </p>

<p>Also, if she's computer savvy, maybe the library would let her help Seniors in the lab. </p>

<p>Check with your senior living communities, they may need someone to read, help with computers or just visit with their residents. At a community nearby, the residents are all sharp and healthy but many crave a conversation with someone other than the other residents. MILs friend thought she was teaching a HS girl to knit, but the girl was volunteering to keep the woman from being so lonely. The HS girl gained a surrogate grandmother, got credit and became pretty good at knitting scarves which she donated to charity.</p>

<p>Some cities have Teen Court where kids serve on a jury for kids in trouble with the law for minor stuff like fighting and drinking. Humane Society is another good one. Scouts, serving food at homeless shelters, helping at a senior center or food bank.</p>

<p>My daughter has worked 1 week each summer for ASP (Appalachian Service Project) repairing houses for low income families - she loves it and hopes to spend the whole summer this year. She tutored for the adult literacy council as a volunteer. Also has done a lot through girl scouts. </p>

<p>ASP had an enormous impact on her. </p>

<p>For her girl scout gold she did repairs and repainted a non profit day care center that was getting bad reports from DHS. She also acted as an aide at many GS activites. Scouts was an important part of her life.</p>

<p>She does things that are meaningful to her and does not plan to stop now she is out of high school.</p>

<p>My daughter served on the all-volunteer crew of a historic tall sailing ship. The commitment included a LOT of maintenance work.</p>

<p>There is a whole world of meaningful volunteer work out there. It depends on your definition of "meaningful." Sometimes a volunteer can make a huge contribution to an organization by doing routine tasks that the overworked staff can't find the time to do. You don't have to have a high level of responsibility to make a big difference. And your daughter needs to approach volunteering with the right attitude. The librarians are probably delighted to have students help with the job you described because then they can keep up with their regular responsibilities.</p>

<p>Try volunteermatch.com to search for jobs for teens in your area. If you belong to a church, the youth group must have group volunteer opportunities. Find out if a local elementary school needs reading or math tutors. Check with the local museum or historical society about teen volunteer programs. My mother's assisted living uses lots of teen volunteers to call bingo and help with activities. Ask the school what other students do for community service and follow those leads. Look for family volunteer opportunities so you can do things together.</p>

<p>Your daughter has to want to volunteer, and you have to encourage her to do it for the right reasons--to help others or make a contribution to her community, not just to look good in a college interview.</p>

<p>My son did volunteer photography for a local arts group, various activities with Boy Scouts (coat drive, etc.), a group project with an environmental education group, ushering at local community theaters. </p>

<p>Just noticed that I cross posted with lots of others saying the same things!</p>

<p>My girls have a bunch of CS that was meaningful to them. One that they shared was a program in which students "adopt" a senior citizen for the winter and shovel him/her out at every snowfall. The seniors are usually alone and would be house-bound if not for the volunteers. It was a very meaningful and, sort of, obvious thing for them because they could see the results of their work on the spot and know who it helped. They were responsible for their seniors and the relationships have lasted for several years. The other thing that was meaningful for D1 which a community garden project in which food was grown, harvested, and distributed to the hungry in our community. That might be a yawner to others, but the concept of growing food to actually EAT is isn't always present here in NYC.</p>

<p>For my older son, it's part filler and part meaningful work.</p>

<p>For instance, one club to which he belongs just did a fund-raising walk for a charity. I don't think my son has any great tie to this particular cause, but it's what the club picked, so that's what he raised money for. I'm assuming that's the kind of thing CTTC is talking about.</p>

<p>But one thing he did last summer and hopes to do again this summer is volunteer at a district-sponsored summer school for kids struggling in a particular subject area (his favorite). He assisted the teachers and admin with various gofer duties as well as presented in the classrooms. Really enjoyed it.</p>

<p>Great ideas. Of course, activities that help others don't always count of for the official CS hours. For example, shoveling snow would only "count" if a non-profit ran a program for doing it. Volunteering at a nursing home would only count if the home was not for profit. </p>

<p>My daughter ran into this last year. She was asked to be a volunteer assistant in the little girls' dance classes at her dance studio. She enjoyed it, but it's not a non-profit, so no CS hours. She's involved in things at church, but this year they changed the definition of CS at school-things like working on a Habitat House with a church group count; things like Vacation Bible School don't. </p>

<p>I don't want to sound like we only help others if we are getting credit, but my daughter is over-scheduled as it is, so if the school "counts" the hours, it's a big incentive.</p>

<p>My niece was the hands-down winner in our extended family for CS. She invented her own project: went to a domestic abuse shelter for women and set it up to create a workshop with the children to create a Mother's Day craft bracelet and basket of nice personal items (soaps and so on) to give to the Moms. She fundraised for the contents of the baskets and craft materials, worked it out with the shelter managers to have the kids available for the workshop and distract the moms so it'd be a surprise. </p>

<p>My own kids did more typical things, but we tried to put a "spin" on them from home. For example, a D volunteered to help teachers in our schooldistrict, which was a poverty district, to support literacy in l:l pairings with children.
This is very much possible in a First or Second Grade setting, but we had no issues of transportation because it WAS our school district. </p>

<p>When we moved to an upscale suburb, many kids worked on the Amnesty letters after school, but S-2 preferred to volunteer at the local library and town hall. There wasn't much to say about the library, it was evident how it helped the staff to take over their workload a bit. Our region had just gone through library CLOSINGS due to budget crunches, so in fact that was understood to be a public service, just to help keep the libraries open and unburden the highly qualified staff from their routine chores. </p>

<p>Most interesting was the town hall, because he was in a Tax Assessor's office. While filing, he witnessed how people come on harshly to the government workers, and how the workers deflect that anger so it doesn't make their own day toxic. I maintain that it helps any student to see how ordinary people get through their working day, so they won't become bullies as adults.</p>

<p>I think perhaps it's the way the parents "spin" the experience at home that might make some routine positions take on new meaning.</p>

<p>My kids call me the spin doctor, however. :) It can be irritating or uplifting, depending on their mood.</p>

<p>"For example, shoveling snow would only "count" if a non-profit ran a program for doing it. "</p>

<p>It is run by a non-profit and the borough president has a reception every year for the volunteers. It's just a lovely program.</p>

<p>S has been the assistant coach for a boys soccer team for 5 years. Never misses a practice or a game.</p>

<p>My S did the formal activities, but what he gravitated to was math tutoring. One of his math teachers teaches a remedial class at the local college, and S would "dress up" to be her assistant. His confidence grew more with helping the college kids than the middle school and HS students (at least, thats how it seemed). I don't think he did this for CS credit, but he took this volunteer position quite seriously.</p>

<p>Count me as another who disagrees with CTTC. D's CS in high school was to work with at-risk first graders one afternoon each week at our church. While it began as a requirement for NHS, she continued it both her junior and senior years beyond the minimum hour requirement and even worked her commitment to a sports team around it. The experience had a significant impact on her and she continued this type of thing as a volunteer at her college's Alternative Spring Break program last spring and for an after school tutoring program sponsored by the university. It has influenced her thinking on what the challenges are for kids who come from homes where no one makes sure they have done their homework, where no one reads to them, and where no one will be worried in a dozen years whether or not they are accepted to the college of their choice. I have been touched to see her compassion for some of the kids that she has worked with and to see the personal growth that comes from realizing what it means to share yourself with those less fortunate. She is not given to warm fuzzies for many kids, but seeing her care for just a few is very touching to me.</p>

<p>When my daughter was a senior in high school, her Spanish teacher asked for a volunteer to work with a 5th grader who had recently immigrated from Mexico and who spoke almost no English. The high school dismisses before the elementary school, so she could go right after school and work with him for the end of his school day. She very much enjoyed working with the boy and continued to volunteer as a tutor in college, and the boy's teacher appreciated my daughter's help a lot. My daughter was shocked that the boy only got a very short amount of ESL instruction each week, because our very large district has very few ESL teachers to go around. He was basically sitting in class all day, not learning anything he should be learning as a fifthe grader. She even needed to translate his emergency forms, permission slips, etc. for his parents/grandfather because no one who spoke Spanish had been around to do it and the family had no idea what the forms were. We couldn't believe that the assistance for someone who speaks Spanish was so limited, since Spanish is such a common language. I can't imagine how the district communicates with a student and his/her family if they speak an UNCOMMON language!!</p>