Here at Whitman, students can complete fifty hours of community service to receive half of a credit and one hundred hours to receive a full credit. While that amount of volunteering may seem daunting and impossible to complete, it is actually quite easy to rack up the hours with all the volunteering opportunities available at Whitman and throughout our community. The programs cited in this article are not only a fun, easy way to gain credits, but they will also look nice on any college application.

The first place to look for community service hours is right here at Whitman. Besides the various individual events hosted by Whitman  that are always in need of student helpers (such as Safe Halloween), Whitman also has weekly programs that will supply a steady income of hours. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,  students can volunteer to be peer tutors. This program is great because you can pick and choose what days and subjects you wish to tutor on. If you decide to volunteer, the head of the program and advisor of the National Honor Society, Mrs. Talleur, will be become familiar with you. This program is always looking for new tutors, so you can join as soon as next week! If you are interested in becoming a tutor, see Mrs. Talleur in Room 407.

There is another volunteering program at Whitman that is great for anyone who wants to go into the education field. Whitman and the intermediate schools have formed a program where high school students can go to either Birchwood or Maplewood after school to be paired up with a teacher and help them in their classroom. What’s cool about this program is that you can choose the school you wish to volunteer at, and you can go as many (or as few) days a week as you wish! This program has recently expanded to the library, where studious high school students can help intermediate school students with their homework on Monday afternoons. If you are interested in joining this program, speak to Dr. Muller or his secretary, Ms. Byrd.

If in-school volunteering isn’t your thing, another great place to earn easy hours is at the South Huntington Public Library. Once a month (the third Tuesday of every month, to be exact) in the YA department, Teen Advisory Board meetings are held. Teen Advisory Board, or TAB, is where South Huntington students in grades 6-12 basically have fun and meet with their friends while the YA librarian, Mrs. Jen, talks about how you can get involved in upcoming programs. Because there is little-to-no commitment involved, you can come to as many or as few meetings as you want to. And at the end of the meeting, there is a quick game show where you can win fabulous prizes. For those of you who can’t get enough community service, there are also sign up sheets where you can volunteer at programs in-between TAB meetings. If you want to build up your college application, anyone can run for the Teen Advisory Board Executive Board at the end of each scholastic year, where nine elected students can run and create library programs (and earn twice the amount of community service hours as regular TAB members). For those of you interested in this program, just stop by the YA department at the library!

With the summer coming up, those lazy dog days are the perfect time to get in community service hours. For those who love sports, the Wildcat Sports Camp is a great place to volunteer. This three-week program offers a wide array of sports, ranging from basketball to baseball, and is a productive way to spend your summer with your friends. If you are interested in this program, just ask your P.E. teacher about it.

Another great place to find summer community service opportunities is on the Huntington Town Website. This website provides a whole list of organizations in the neighborhood that are looking for volunteers. What’s great about this source is that you can chose from many different organizations (including, but not limited to, the Cinema Arts Centre, Walt Whitman Birthplace, Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society, and Huntington Hospital) and you can choose the days you want to volunteer at them. If you are interested in volunteering in the community, just visit the directory on the town website and email the organizations you are interested in.

Colleges hate empty summers, but they love students who give back to their communities. So this summer, make sure to get some community service hours done. If you are wondering how to log in the hours you have already completed (or will complete) then you have come to the right place. All you have to do is fill out your community service forms, which can be found on the Whitman web page or in the guidance office, and hand them in to the main office. All that’s left to do now is to start having fun volunteering!