As high schoolers, volunteer hours are a requirement for graduation. Although it varies from school to school, it comes down to the students and the community. Jupiter High School offers a plethora of clubs and programs such as Green Team, Interact Club, Key Club and the newly founded Blue Team to assist students in collecting hours.
“Every month we’re going to go on field trips, so monthly we’ll be doing community service opportunities for everyone,” Merrick Walder, senior and Blue Team founder, said.
Not only do these clubs help students get closer to their high school diploma, they also assist them in feeling connected with their community and peers. Allowing students to actively participate in their community introduces a new generation of independent thinkers, workers and helpful hands.
“We’re going to work with many organizations in the marine science community to help educate people about our oceans,” Walder said.
Alongside clubs, the school has numerous places on its website such as Furry Friends, the Loxahatchee River Center and Busch Wildlife which are always welcoming new volunteers. These organizations and clubs are a huge part of students learning more about where they live, connecting with the community, getting involved and knowing more about the other citizens, and broadening their reach.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity to give back to the community. We can find ourselves often self-absorbed but I think that colleges look for those students that are more community-oriented,” Scott Ciliento said.
Clubs like Green Team are always connecting with everyone while also helping the environment. Green Team recycles daily, goes on field trips, and does fundraisers for different organizations. Students have easy access to start accumulating hours.
“If you do recycling, then you’re gonna get somewhere around 140 hours and if you just do normal activities on one day of work you can get about six hours,” Mina Robinson, senior, said.
The members become more social and step out of their comfort zone and can end up in leadership positions eventually. These clubs allow the members to branch out and become closer to their peers and their community.
“A lot of the people in there [the club] they’re not as social whenever you first meet them and then because you’re knocking on every single door and getting to know the teachers, they have now a ton of teacher buddies and new friends in the club,” Robinson said.
It has become a sort of environment that allows them to grow and get closer to walking across the stage at the end of senior year. Both Robinson and Walder feel that the club has helped them in more ways than one.
“We were going to a cultural center in Dade County and I was telling them [the people at the firm] about what I did for the club and having a leadership position,” Robinson said, “They looked at me and said you know your personality kind of fits to be in charge of agricultural law and lead a firm with us.”
Community service gives the students a sense of pride and responsibility while also allowing them to branch out and attract the eyes of other companies and organizations.
“I think there is a sense of appreciation. There’s a sense of pride with giving something with maybe not necessarily receiving a particular monetary compensation. I think that you get that good feeling compensation for giving back and so I think it’s a good thing,” Ciliento said.
