FCPS Community Service Requirement for 6th Graders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

[Anonymous]

What happens if your child doesn't do it? Do they make your child repeat 6th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happens if your child doesn't do it? Do they make your child repeat 6th grade?

They usually have in school volunteer opportunities for that age. Just bring in canned goods. Is Boosterthon considered volunteer work? If so, there you go. Maybe they'll write letters to the troops.

I don't even remember the service hour requirement for 6th graders but my kids were involved in community clean ups, canned food drives, etc. so on top of whatever they were doing in school they had PLENTY of service hours and the patches to prove it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

It's really not. My high schoolers have all met the requirements by the 10th grade. My kids have volunteered at the polls during elections, as classroom aides back in their elementary schools, guides at open houses and back to school nights, worked bookfairs and other school events, etc. There are plenty of opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved putting down religious service on the FCPS form - I'm sure they hate that.

In MCPS, that generally won't count unless it serves a broader community. If the youth group works at a food pantry or the church hosts a Red Cross blood drive, that counts, but serving as an usher or acolyte or an aide in a religious education class would not.

That is ridiculous.

I think there's good reason for that. A lot of religious institutions have service requirements for their youth anyway - confirmation or bar/bat mitzvah, etc. No double-dipping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got a note from my child's school stating that 6th graders are required to complete 5 hours of community service. Honestly, this ticks me off. We do a good bit of community service as a family, so I am certainly not against my son doing this. However, we teach that you should serve others simply because it's the right thing to do -- not for any credit or reward or recognition. Plus, I don't think it's the school's (government's) place to mandate non-academic activities and teach values. Students should not be graded on pulling weeds or picking up trash.

If your kids had to complete this requirement, what kind of community service did they do? How was it monitored/tracked by the school?

Community service for kids should not be a requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

It's really not. My high schoolers have all met the requirements by the 10th grade. My kids have volunteered at the polls during elections, as classroom aides back in their elementary schools, guides at open houses and back to school nights, worked bookfairs and other school events, etc. There are plenty of opportunities.

Sounds like your kids got a ton of volunteer hours through school which is great. Not all kids can get that many hours at school sponsored events that they would likely be attending anyway.

My own kids have gotten a lot of their volunteer hours through community clean ups, canned food drives, helping the elderly, etc. Some of it has been fairly hard labor actually, lol. I know because I was right there with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

Just to clarify, for the MCPS requirement, you can begin earning the hours after completion of 5th grade, so you have over SIX YEARS to meet the 75 hour requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

Just to clarify, for the MCPS requirement, you can begin earning the hours after completion of 5th grade, so you have over SIX YEARS to meet the 75 hour requirement.

Realistically how many kids are going to start plugging away at those hours though. How many realize in 11th grade that those hours are DUE soon!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

Just to clarify, for the MCPS requirement, you can begin earning the hours after completion of 5th grade, so you have over SIX YEARS to meet the 75 hour requirement.

Realistically how many kids are going to start plugging away at those hours though. How many realize in 11th grade that those hours are DUE soon!!

You'd be surprised. But then, we're in one of those horrible W clusters.

Seriously - If your kid has trouble finding service opportunities, contact the PTA presidents at the middle or elementary schools in your cluster. They always need help. My kids have gotten service hours for sorting box tops, stuffing back to school packets, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

Just to clarify, for the MCPS requirement, you can begin earning the hours after completion of 5th grade, so you have over SIX YEARS to meet the 75 hour requirement.

Realistically how many kids are going to start plugging away at those hours though. How many realize in 11th grade that those hours are DUE soon!!

You'd be surprised. But then, we're in one of those horrible W clusters.

Seriously - If your kid has trouble finding service opportunities, contact the PTA presidents at the middle or elementary schools in your cluster. They always need help. My kids have gotten service hours for sorting box tops, stuffing back to school packets, etc.

It's funny, I volunteered at the schools for years but I never specifically asked the PTA president if my kids could volunteer. Boy do I feel kind of dumb now .

[Anonymous]

Bottom line is, the service are what you make of them. If you take them seriously you will learn a lot and gain some valuable experience in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved putting down religious service on the FCPS form - I'm sure they hate that.

In MCPS, that generally won't count unless it serves a broader community. If the youth group works at a food pantry or the church hosts a Red Cross blood drive, that counts, but serving as an usher or acolyte or an aide in a religious education class would not.

That is ridiculous.

I think there's good reason for that. A lot of religious institutions have service requirements for their youth anyway - confirmation or bar/bat mitzvah, etc. No double-dipping.

So they pass judgement on HOW and WHERE my kids serves his/her mandatory volunteering? I'm glad I have my kid in private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS requires 75 hours of community service for graduation.

I can't believe there are people who actually find this objectionable???

That's a lot of service hours.

5 service hours a quarter translated into volunteering 2hrs or 3hrs for 2 out of every 9 Saturdays.

Just to clarify, for the MCPS requirement, you can begin earning the hours after completion of 5th grade, so you have over SIX YEARS to meet the 75 hour requirement.

Realistically how many kids are going to start plugging away at those hours though. How many realize in 11th grade that those hours are DUE soon!!

When my kid was in MCPS middle school, they earned hours for some thing they did on outdoor ed. They also had an assignment where they had to find a site and do 5 hours for Reading class, and an assignment for World Studies where they had to interview someone who was alive in WW2, which somehow lead to hours. My kid was amazed that he got hours for talking to his own Grandma! In HS his sports team had events every year that gave them hours -- packing boxes for the food kitchen, running the moon bounce at some school event, etc . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So they pass judgement on HOW and WHERE my kids serves his/her mandatory volunteering? I'm glad I have my kid in private.

First of all, it's not really "mandatory volunteering." It is "student service learning." Your kid can volunteer anywhere he wants, but if he wants credit for the "student service learning," then yes, there are some stipulations. You know, just like they can require your kid to attend class and turn in homework and read certain books and all the other requirements for graduation. Strikingly similar, you know, to how your employer might have all kinds of stipulations on how and where you perform your tasks that result in a paycheck?

Sheesh.