One of the most overlooked and neglected graduation requirements is community service. At Pentucket Regional Middle High School, forty hours of community service is mandatory to graduate. However, there is not much advertisement of when and where to get those required hours. 

Many students claim to feel lost when it comes to community service and feel overwhelmed by amount of community service time they need to catch up on. An anonymous junior states that they, “Feel like community service becomes such an overlooked requirement because it is not really talked about until you reach your junior year.” 

In an effort to avoid this stressful dilemma, forty-two students at Pentucket were surveyed on their community service status. There is a wide variety of responses from sophomores, juniors, and seniors. 

So, where are people getting their hours?
A majority of students receive their service hours through athletics. Junior Julia Connelly says she got her community service hours by “volunteering at softball clinics,” among the other areas where she got her community service. 

An anonymous Junior noted that they “got most of [their] hours through playing sports, like bake sales and working youth games.”

Junior Ben Drescher says he got his “playing music at basketball games.”

Additionally, Sophomore Emily Bethmann says that she got her volunteer hours by volunteering at a “cheer competition held at Pentucket.”

However, there were also a good number of respondents who got their hours doing non-sports-related volunteer work. For example, Sophomore Jacob Rivers got his by volunteering “On a horror trail,” and, on top of that, “being an emcee for the a cappella night.” 

Senior Jessica Brann responds that she got her hours by “shredding papers for [her] mom’s work.” Brann also noted that “the class of 2023 only needs 20 hours due to COVID,” making it easier to get their community service done.

Additionally, Sophomore Lacie Baldini says that she got her volunteer time through “Clothing donations and a homeless food drive.”

Where can you get hours around Pentucket?

Dr. Bent, Pentucket’s community service supervisor was interviewed in an effort to create a list of opportunities around Pentucket. Dr. Bent recommends the following…

• Animal shelters
• Senior centers
• Local libraries
• Town conservation groups
• Nichols Village
• Helping teachers outside of school hours: Ms.Costello in the library, lunch ladies, etc.
• MSPCA
• Homeless shelters
• After school programs
• Girl & Boy Scout troops

Additionally, it is important to note why we do community service. Dr. Bent says that community service “helps build a work ethic, bonds with the community, and gives a sense of belonging.”

Furthermore, you do not necessarily need to get your hours from distinguished organizations or official groups. Dr. Bent says that your community service can come from practically “anything you don’t get paid for.”

All in all, although getting your community service hours is often overwhelming, it is also easier than it seems. Getting out there and helping your community, building bonds, and bettering yourself is what community service is all about.