40 hours. Does that ring a bell? Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about those precious community involvement hours. If you’re new to high school or just weren’t paying attention then you might not know that every high school student needs to complete 40 community involvement hours to officially graduate. Some of you might be reading this and think, “Psh! I finished getting all of those in grade nine.” Or you might be thinking, “Oh no… 40?! I don’t have much time to complete all of those. How do I even start?” For those of you relating to the second line of thinking, I’m here to help you out.
First of all, let’s understand exactly why it is mandatory to complete 40 hours. The whole point is to get students more socially active. It allows us to get to know ourselves and make connections with those we’ve never met before. Some good places to get hours from are: your local food bank, childrens activity camps, activity services downtown, sports events or even visiting your old elementary school and seeing if they need an extra helping hand. You can also go online to
www.volunteeringpeel.org and see where you’re needed.
It is also very important that once you have your 40 hours you keep them safe. This means you must protect your community service sheets. Those signed sheets are solid proof that you did in fact spend 40 complete hours giving back to your community. Protect them by keeping them somewhere you will always remember. If you aren’t comfortable handing in your sheets right away, you can always make a photocopy just in case.
Hopefully this article has inspired you to finish your 40 hours. The sooner you have them done, the easier graduation will be and you won’t be stressing all the way into June! Help your community and volunteer your time.
Submitted by Natasha Chung, Student Journalist