Anonymous
01/15/2026 18:45
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I just reminded my 10th grader to turn in his forms from summer. I found 26 hours worth of SSL forms that he completed but never turned in. He also did some hours that the sponsors never gave the form despite following up on it. He’s only half way done with his requirement on paper but he’s done way more than the required amount. How many times can a parent remind their kid?
There a better online system now.
Where? Certainly not at my kids middle school. Everything for SSL is paper based.
Anonymous
01/15/2026 10:17
Subject: Re:Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nothing like mandatory “volunteer” hours, amiright?
Or ones you have to pay to get. My kid’s friends get a lot of SSL hours by serving as volunteer at races for their own paid summer swim team.
Yet some parents say it’s so “easy” to get hours without effort without recognizing their own privilege made it easy and a lot of MCPS kids don’t have the same access to the easy SSL options (which is why you see 25 pct of kids in danger of not graduating due to this.)
My father grew up poor and was horrified by the SSL requirement. He got up a sunrise every day to work before school, and came home after school to work until bed every day (except for homework but I think he often did that while at work). He said he never could have done 75 hours of volunteering, as the hours didn’t exist. As an adult, he volunteered a ton. I really doubt that there’s much connection between these mandated SSL requirements and future volunteerism.
Anonymous
01/15/2026 10:12
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
This is my kid. He does a ton of service hours but never gets the form filled out because he thinks it’s dumb. Because he does a lot of service stuff, he figures it wil be easy to just catch up and do it all at once, or he’ll get all the credits for the dumb “fill out this survey” assignments. Right now he does have forms for about 8 hours just sitting on my kitchen counter …. Let’s see if those get turned in.
Anonymous
01/15/2026 10:09
Subject: Re:Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Nothing like mandatory “volunteer” hours, amiright?
Or ones you have to pay to get. My kid’s friends get a lot of SSL hours by serving as volunteer at races for their own paid summer swim team.
Yet some parents say it’s so “easy” to get hours without effort without recognizing their own privilege made it easy and a lot of MCPS kids don’t have the same access to the easy SSL options (which is why you see 25 pct of kids in danger of not graduating due to this.)
It's easy to get hours because the school itself gives out hours for in school events.
Anonymous
01/15/2026 10:08
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:I just reminded my 10th grader to turn in his forms from summer. I found 26 hours worth of SSL forms that he completed but never turned in. He also did some hours that the sponsors never gave the form despite following up on it. He’s only half way done with his requirement on paper but he’s done way more than the required amount. How many times can a parent remind their kid?
There a better online system now.
Anonymous
01/15/2026 09:47
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
They should count Tiktok as SSL hours
Anonymous
01/15/2026 07:01
Subject: Re:Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Nothing like mandatory “volunteer” hours, amiright?
Or ones you have to pay to get. My kid’s friends get a lot of SSL hours by serving as volunteer at races for their own paid summer swim team.
Yet some parents say it’s so “easy” to get hours without effort without recognizing their own privilege made it easy and a lot of MCPS kids don’t have the same access to the easy SSL options (which is why you see 25 pct of kids in danger of not graduating due to this.)
Anonymous
01/15/2026 06:52
Subject: Re:Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Nothing like mandatory “volunteer” hours, amiright?
Anonymous
01/15/2026 06:43
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.
My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.
Do let us know the details of how your kid completed his hours before 8th grade with minimal effort.
He volunteered at an after school program and summer camp (same program) that he did in elementary school. He loved it, it built his leadership skills, it was 100% free (no paid CIT situation). Great all around. And things like turning in SSL forms are great teaching opportunities for executive function skills that are required in entry level jobs.
Yet you paid for your kid to attend this camp all through elementary school before they took him on as a CIT. I guess you consider spending your money annually “minimal effort”. Most kids don’t have those opportunities.
Anonymous
01/15/2026 04:50
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.
My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.
Do let us know the details of how your kid completed his hours before 8th grade with minimal effort.
He volunteered at an after school program and summer camp (same program) that he did in elementary school. He loved it, it built his leadership skills, it was 100% free (no paid CIT situation). Great all around. And things like turning in SSL forms are great teaching opportunities for executive function skills that are required in entry level jobs.
Anonymous
01/14/2026 21:43
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.
My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.
Do let us know the details of how your kid completed his hours before 8th grade with minimal effort.
+1. It’s often that the kid “volunteered” as a CIT in a program that mommy and daddy had to pay for.
I recently saw a camp advertising that you could be a CIT for $500. i’m sorry-you are charging people to give you unpaid labor? It actually should be criminal. It listed a whole bunch of responsibilities too. I couldn’t believe it.
It’s upwards of $1000 per week at other camps. If parents want to pay for their tweens/teens to do these things during the summer, great. But I find it hard to believe that being a CIT at a camp that charges thousands to campers is what Maryland intended for SSL hours.
Anonymous
01/14/2026 21:29
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.
My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.
Do let us know the details of how your kid completed his hours before 8th grade with minimal effort.
+1. It’s often that the kid “volunteered” as a CIT in a program that mommy and daddy had to pay for.
I recently saw a camp advertising that you could be a CIT for $500. i’m sorry-you are charging people to give you unpaid labor? It actually should be criminal. It listed a whole bunch of responsibilities too. I couldn’t believe it.
Anonymous
01/14/2026 21:23
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.
My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.
Do let us know the details of how your kid completed his hours before 8th grade with minimal effort.
+1. It’s often that the kid “volunteered” as a CIT in a program that mommy and daddy had to pay for.
Anonymous
01/14/2026 19:14
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
I just reminded my 10th grader to turn in his forms from summer. I found 26 hours worth of SSL forms that he completed but never turned in. He also did some hours that the sponsors never gave the form despite following up on it. He’s only half way done with his requirement on paper but he’s done way more than the required amount. How many times can a parent remind their kid?
Anonymous
01/14/2026 19:04
Subject: Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS
Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how that’s possible? My son had zero issue getting his hours. He did all but one hour in school related activities. They earned them in class and watching videos on specific topics.
^^This^^ What is the point of SSL if it can be earned by watching videos? Get rid of it.