Community service has long been a cornerstone of student participation. Whether it be through clubs, student organizations or individually, students have always been encouraged to give back to the community.

Previously students were encouraged to participate in 12 hours of community service during sophomore year. The program was not a component for last year’s sophomores but has been re-established this year, with 10 hours strongly encouraged instead of 12.

Something else new this time around? Service hours connected to school life.

On Sep. 10, sophomores were offered an opportunity to log their first hours of community service at the school’s annual back-to-school night, where they helped parents look for classrooms.

Sophomore Aldegundo Brenneman thought the night was fulfilling.

“It was very nice to be able to help out,” he said.

Tenth-grade lead advisor Kristen Piehl has been managing the return of the process: “There was a lot of push from the community to have students engage in community service,” she said.

Piehl feels the reintroduction of community service will help students find a purpose outside of school, giving them a motive to give where they live.

Service, she said, “…will allow students to find a reason to show up and a reason to engage with other people in their community.”

Sophomore Naomi Glozman agrees. “I probably wouldn’t have started doing community service this early,” she said.

Piehl believes that having sophomores work on community service early will help them later in their time: “[Community service] is a requirement of the senior project,” Piehl said. “So this will allow them to build relationships with community organizations that they can work with then.”

Brenneman is on board with the service hour experience: “I think it’s a great thing to do some volunteering,” he said. “There’s so much moral value in serving your community.”

Still, Glozman sees that the reaction of the grade as a whole has been mixed. When service was introduced at the grade-level retreat, “people weren’t very excited.”

Piehl hopes to see the program maintained, if not widened: “I think that the school as a whole should engage in more community service” she said, “so everyone, every year, feels like they’re contributing to their community.”

This story was updated 10/3 to synthesize interviews.