As students begin to grow into adulthood and explore different career paths and opportunities, they find themselves in predicaments where all the necessary skills that they have learned from the classroom are being put to the test during the endeavors that lay within their journey. Although most of the critical skills that students take with them into the real world are developed through all their experiences in school surrounding their academics, another big contributing factor should be volunteering.
Tracing back to as early as Medieval Britain and the Revolutionary War, volunteerism has roots in civilians helping during war efforts by providing relief. As times progressed, volunteering became more common through the development of nonprofit organizations such as the YMCA, founded in 1844 in London, where those interested were given the opportunity to diversify their charity work towards their desired paths. Along the way, integrity, empathy, and communication skills are developed through volunteering and being an active particip ant in your community.
Such great values that stem from volunteering are values that lots of people believe everyone should have, and as a result, high schools across the country have adapted volunteering and require a certain amount of hours. These typically range from 40-100 hours throughout their high school careers, which are mandatory in order to graduate. This requirement allows such values to be instilled in students as they mature into adults. Regardless, if they choose to proceed with volunteering, those values will always remain.
Close by in Melrose, high school students who attend Melrose High School, are required to accumulate volunteer hours in order to graduate. Melrose sophomore Sirak Araia explained that the idea was “new to me at first because I always thought that volunteering was something you have to go above and beyond for.” Araia’s time at Melrose High so far has exposed him to “opportunities that were offered from my school that helped me and other students to engage with our community and seek authority within our community too which has helped me grow out of my shell a lot,” exclaimed Araia who furher emphasized that without volunteering being required at his school he would have “never tried it out, so I’m grateful that I did because now I find enjoyment in helping and learning from others.
Due to the power of volunteering, many Malden High School students occasionally question why volunteering is not a requirement at their school. However, due to the integrity and fierce passion that already courses through our students, many have taken actions into their own hands and provide their own volunteering opportunities.
Junior Sophia Chan found herself searching for volunteering opportunities that aligned more closely to her personal passions and interests in teaching, reading, and writing. As she felt inspired by many other students—who ran volunteering groups such as Key Club and Glamour Pals—she decided that, with the strong support that she knew MHS would provide her with, to start her own: a club called Love4Kids.
“We wanted to create an educational and fun program that would allow children who may not be native English speakers through one-on-one partners to develop literacy skills, as well as provide extra support to young students in general,” stated Chan.
Along Chan is Vice Presidents of Love4Kids, junior Eldana Abrhame. She took into account how many immigrant families residing in Malden, including her own, are tirelessly working to support themselves and their families, which can sometimes deter their attention and engagement from their children’s education as she has experienced in the past.
“I really wanted to get involved in my community and give back in any way, in a way that was not beneficial for me, but also the coming generations in hopes of influencing young children to add on to their academic careers,” expressed Abrhame.
Meeting every Joy Block, members of Love4Kids go down to the MHS daycare and read to the students who are typically ages 3-5. Along with reading, other engaging activities such as arts and crafts, coloring, and just simply conversing with the children are also options. Chan and Abrhame expressed that Love4Kids was growing rapidly, so they decided to branch out and collaborate with others.
“I believe that Love4Kids has indeed made an impact on the community as we now have been able to reach out and partner with MaldenReads,” stated Chan. “We’ve collaborated with them with so many successful events such as Indigenous People’s Day, where children were able to make murals, expressing their creativity, and learn about the livelihood of Indigenous People.”
As fulfilling as their work has been in the community, Chan expressed how she thinks that “volunteering should be a graduation requirement as it can be a way that challenges students to go out of their comfort zones and learn more about their community and themselves.” Meanwhile, Abrhame exclaimed how she thinks it “shouldn’t be a graduation requirement because then, people will be focused on their hours instead of doing it out of the goodness of their heart.”
Junior Olivia “Remi” Yang, one of the founders of another child success-oriented group, the Origami Club, expressed that “volunteering shouldn’t be a requirement because it would be forcing students to volunteer which wouldn’t really be genuine. Yang added that “some kids have busy schedules and a more complex family background, which can make it difficult for them to commit to volunteer hours.”
Similar to Love4Kids, the Origami Club allows kids to establish their artistic abilities at a young age by organizing origami talks to young middle schoolers at Salemwood, Beebe, etc. Yang described the activities as “wholesome” and encourages “students to consider volunteering as an extracurricular activity if they’re willing to sacrifice a part of their schedule to do so, as not only can it benefit your college application and experience, but it’s also very stress relieving and rewarding.”
There is no secret that although volunteering is not a major part of MHS culture, students here take initiative and bring back to their community like no other.
