Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is at DS's upper-mid-tier MCPS high school based on the notices they've sent out. How does this happen? These kids have so many opportunities to get hours and get so many reminders. Parents get a lot of reminders also. These students have had many years to get this done.

If the SSL rule is so hard to get students to comply with, maybe it should just be eliminated.

Why in the world would this be eliminated? Because it’s inconvenient to you? Please stop it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids had done over 130 hours by the end of 7th grade.

It is pathetic that this has not been completed by so many high school students.

There are still about 4 or 5 states where this is mandatory.

Great for you. But you also have free time to waste on DCUM so presumably you’ve got time and income to spare. A lot of MCPS parents don’t have the resources to shuffle their kids around to get SSL hours or to pay to get them done at summer camp. Check your privilege.

+1 not sure exactly how one’s kids get 130 hours so “easily” in middle school. Do enlighten us but I suspect it involves quite a bit of parental chauffeuring for an activity the kid was already involved in or some major money for SSL approved camps

I would also like to know. —middle school mom debating whether to risk the storm so her kid can get 1 SSL hour volunteering this evening a half hour away from where we live.

I wonder if the opportunities or norms are different across the schools? I haven't read the whole threads but was surprised to see this comment. I had three kids go through and all three got all SSLs in MS and I wasn't involved in almost any of it. Two of them asked their 4th and 5th grade teachers if they could help out after school (which they walked to once a week). I kind of recall them helping with earlier grades in the days before school began (putting up bulletin boards and such.) They seemed to get a lot AT school (They told me they got them for, like I think Outdoor Ed? And some things like that?0. I think, like reshelving books in the library or something? honestly, I don't know). One did some educational programs online (this was during Covid so not sure if those opportunities are still available-- I think it was like watching videos and taking quizzes about MLK or something like that?) The one time I was slightly involved, it was just driving one of them to a CIT gig in the summer-- she didn't do it for the reason of getting SSLs but did get them, and it added up to a lot over 2 weeks.

Honestly, even with 3 kids going through, I don't even know how many they needed or how they got them. They just took care of it, themselves. That's what makes me think that some schools are kind of more set up for kids to earn them (like, advertise the opportunities and have things available in or near the building) than others are?

[Anonymous]

SSL hours can be easily gotten in middle school if school leadership makes it a priority. My daughter's middle school offers loads of in-school or directly after-school SSL opportunities for kids and many of them take them up on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a lot of opportunities in MS, but very few in HS.

In HS individual should be able to find and make their own. Giving back to the community and volunteering.

Despite what you think should occur, clearly they’re having challenges if 25 pct of high school kids aren’t getting sufficient SSL hours to graduate. I have been through the MoCo volunteer site and there is very little in the ways of opportunities that is walking/public transportation accessible for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids had done over 130 hours by the end of 7th grade.

It is pathetic that this has not been completed by so many high school students.

There are still about 4 or 5 states where this is mandatory.

Great for you. But you also have free time to waste on DCUM so presumably you’ve got time and income to spare. A lot of MCPS parents don’t have the resources to shuffle their kids around to get SSL hours or to pay to get them done at summer camp. Check your privilege.

+1 not sure exactly how one’s kids get 130 hours so “easily” in middle school. Do enlighten us but I suspect it involves quite a bit of parental chauffeuring for an activity the kid was already involved in or some major money for SSL approved camps

My 13 year old was an unpaid CIT for a Rockville City camp in our neighborhood. No chauffeuring, no cost. Hopefully he was helpful.

Was your 13 year old a past camper where he was a CIT? Most camps have that requirement which makes most CIT positions (and the SSL hours) accessible only to kids whose parents have the means to pay hundreds of dollars a week for camp.

[Anonymous]

Is there a way to check how many SSL hours your kid has on Parentvue or Synergy? I was looking around and don’t see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids had done over 130 hours by the end of 7th grade.

It is pathetic that this has not been completed by so many high school students.

There are still about 4 or 5 states where this is mandatory.

Great for you. But you also have free time to waste on DCUM so presumably you’ve got time and income to spare. A lot of MCPS parents don’t have the resources to shuffle their kids around to get SSL hours or to pay to get them done at summer camp. Check your privilege.

+1 not sure exactly how one’s kids get 130 hours so “easily” in middle school. Do enlighten us but I suspect it involves quite a bit of parental chauffeuring for an activity the kid was already involved in or some major money for SSL approved camps

Considering kids get like 20-30 hours in MS just from class this is not exactly hard. Kid could volunteer to help at PTA related activities at their school or their old ES. They could use all that summer free to help at a local shelter or soup kitchen alongside a parent volunteer. They could offer to stay after school on activity bus days to help reshelve books for the media center. Etc etc etc… Have you or your kids even check the Montgomery County volunteer website?

It’s not the folks who’ve completed the hours who need to check their privilege.

Of course I have checked the Montgomery county volunteer website (although the point is that that the kids are supposed to be doing the planning not the parents.) Most of the activities involve me driving my kid 30 minutes each way to help my kid volunteer one hour or doing something expensive like buying ingredients to cook food at home and drive my kid to drop off a homeless shelter. Yes there are school based activities but as other have pointed out, with 800 other middle schoolers, those opportunities go quickly.

As for a parent taking off during the summer to volunteer alongside their kid at a homeless shelter, most parents have to work during the summer…check your privilege indeed.

My kid had very near the required hours before completing MS and I didn’t drive anywhere out of the way or take off the entire summer. They participated in SSL activities through the school system (including some sessions where buses where provided and some virtual), volunteered to help at PTA events at their ES, and now in HS have continued to do other things that now have the kid over the required hours and working towards the 240hrs needed for the award.

There is no requirement to complete the hour in MS and very little reason why they can’t be completed before HS graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids had done over 130 hours by the end of 7th grade.

It is pathetic that this has not been completed by so many high school students.

There are still about 4 or 5 states where this is mandatory.

Great for you. But you also have free time to waste on DCUM so presumably you’ve got time and income to spare. A lot of MCPS parents don’t have the resources to shuffle their kids around to get SSL hours or to pay to get them done at summer camp. Check your privilege.

+1 not sure exactly how one’s kids get 130 hours so “easily” in middle school. Do enlighten us but I suspect it involves quite a bit of parental chauffeuring for an activity the kid was already involved in or some major money for SSL approved camps

My 13 year old was an unpaid CIT for a Rockville City camp in our neighborhood. No chauffeuring, no cost. Hopefully he was helpful.

Was your 13 year old a past camper where he was a CIT? Most camps have that requirement which makes most CIT positions (and the SSL hours) accessible only to kids whose parents have the means to pay hundreds of dollars a week for camp.

This is why it isn't fair. So many students don't have that opportunity. Some CIT positions actually require the parent to pay a reduced camp fee.

The hours should all be done at school or school related activities. Just like in some Asian countries where students are expected to tidy their schools. There are give or take around 37-38 weeks in a school year. If a student did 30 minutes a week over the course of four years weeks that would meet the requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a way to check how many SSL hours your kid has on Parentvue or Synergy? I was looking around and don’t see it.

Not sure where in parentvue, but you can find it on the report card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know how many notices were sent out? My DS is a senior and I haven’t heard a word. Most kids that I know of are way over the required 75.

OP here. My son had a breakdown of the students that as of now won't graduate. It showed how many had less than 20, 20-30, etc.

Why would your son have access to this, and how would he know which kids joined mcps later and therefore had a prorated number of hours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a way to check how many SSL hours your kid has on Parentvue or Synergy? I was looking around and don’t see it.

It’s in the Course History on ParentVue, at least for my high schoolers. I’m not sure if middle schoolers have this too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids had done over 130 hours by the end of 7th grade.

It is pathetic that this has not been completed by so many high school students.

There are still about 4 or 5 states where this is mandatory.

Great for you. But you also have free time to waste on DCUM so presumably you’ve got time and income to spare. A lot of MCPS parents don’t have the resources to shuffle their kids around to get SSL hours or to pay to get them done at summer camp. Check your privilege.

+1 not sure exactly how one’s kids get 130 hours so “easily” in middle school. Do enlighten us but I suspect it involves quite a bit of parental chauffeuring for an activity the kid was already involved in or some major money for SSL approved camps

My 13 year old was an unpaid CIT for a Rockville City camp in our neighborhood. No chauffeuring, no cost. Hopefully he was helpful.

Was your 13 year old a past camper where he was a CIT? Most camps have that requirement which makes most CIT positions (and the SSL hours) accessible only to kids whose parents have the means to pay hundreds of dollars a week for camp.

This is why it isn't fair. So many students don't have that opportunity. Some CIT positions actually require the parent to pay a reduced camp fee.

The hours should all be done at school or school related activities. Just like in some Asian countries where students are expected to tidy their schools. There are give or take around 37-38 weeks in a school year. If a student did 30 minutes a week over the course of four years weeks that would meet the requirement.

Asian countries have students tidy the school as part of their routine and respect for their environment. It’s not for SSL hours. Though I’m sure if some student offered to the principal and janitors team to say thoroughly wipe off and dust all the desk in a particular hallway every week they could earn SSL hours. Same if they volunteered to work with the PTA or a school staff même et on a school beautification day. The point is a little attention and effort is required

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids had done over 130 hours by the end of 7th grade.

It is pathetic that this has not been completed by so many high school students.

There are still about 4 or 5 states where this is mandatory.

Great for you. But you also have free time to waste on DCUM so presumably you’ve got time and income to spare. A lot of MCPS parents don’t have the resources to shuffle their kids around to get SSL hours or to pay to get them done at summer camp. Check your privilege.

+1 not sure exactly how one’s kids get 130 hours so “easily” in middle school. Do enlighten us but I suspect it involves quite a bit of parental chauffeuring for an activity the kid was already involved in or some major money for SSL approved camps

I would also like to know. —middle school mom debating whether to risk the storm so her kid can get 1 SSL hour volunteering this evening a half hour away from where we live.

I wonder if the opportunities or norms are different across the schools? I haven't read the whole threads but was surprised to see this comment. I had three kids go through and all three got all SSLs in MS and I wasn't involved in almost any of it. Two of them asked their 4th and 5th grade teachers if they could help out after school (which they walked to once a week). I kind of recall them helping with earlier grades in the days before school began (putting up bulletin boards and such.) They seemed to get a lot AT school (They told me they got them for, like I think Outdoor Ed? And some things like that?0. I think, like reshelving books in the library or something? honestly, I don't know). One did some educational programs online (this was during Covid so not sure if those opportunities are still available-- I think it was like watching videos and taking quizzes about MLK or something like that?) The one time I was slightly involved, it was just driving one of them to a CIT gig in the summer-- she didn't do it for the reason of getting SSLs but did get them, and it added up to a lot over 2 weeks.

Honestly, even with 3 kids going through, I don't even know how many they needed or how they got them. They just took care of it, themselves. That's what makes me think that some schools are kind of more set up for kids to earn them (like, advertise the opportunities and have things available in or near the building) than others are?

You’re proving the point of those who say SSL hours are difficult for many to access. Your kids asked prior teachers to create an SSL opportunity for them that didn’t exist and wasn’t advertised to anyone. CIT jobs usually go to kids who have been campers in the past or kids whose parents pay for them to be campers. And great that your kids live within walking distance from their school so you didn’t need to drive them, but that isn’t the case for a lot of families.

[Anonymous]

I see many middle schoolers do SSL hours in my area, and I see some parents stay around and do pick up/drop off. Well, I thought it is common that like 6th grader start to do SSL hours. Of course, some middle schoolers are " kind of " forced by parents to start early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a lot of opportunities in MS, but very few in HS.

In HS individual should be able to find and make their own. Giving back to the community and volunteering.

Despite what you think should occur, clearly they’re having challenges if 25 pct of high school kids aren’t getting sufficient SSL hours to graduate. I have been through the MoCo volunteer site and there is very little in the ways of opportunities that is walking/public transportation accessible for my kid.

A few times a year my boys would get an email about a webinar/online program they could attend and earn SSL. These were basically educational and very easy for any student to do. One of mine also earned hours volunteering in the school office during the summer and helping a teacher develop a website for a special program. So I think most kids do not require transportation to meet the majority of their hours.