Gryphons Serve With a Purpose

Volunteering is the act of offering a service free of charge. These services can vary from making care packages to helping with kids at a local daycare. Some people volunteer just because they want to, while in other cases, the individuals are working to obtain a goal.
Once students enter University Academy Upper School, they are required to log a minimum of 100 volunteer hours before graduation. The goal is for freshmen to have 20 hours, 40 hours for sophomores, 25 hours for juniors, and 15 hours for seniors. This can help students to pace themselves throughout their years of high school instead of trying to cram in all of their hours at once. If someone acquires 200 volunteer hours, they are able to get a special cord to wear at graduation.
UA isn’t the only school that requires volunteer hours to graduate; this is a common requirement for most high schools. In requiring students to earn volunteer hours, students are able to build a strong resume, expand valuable skills, and help their communities.
At UA, achieving the goal of 100 hours is most stressed upon the upperclassmen because they are closest to the deadline, which is the end of senior year. There are plenty of opportunities around the city to gain volunteer hours such as KC Pet Project and Harvesters, but there are just as many opportunities around the school to receive volunteer hours.
UA junior Aniyah Coleman said, “I assist with the sports I participate in; for instance, recently, I helped out with the middle school wrestling team coaches.”
Activities such as helping at an after school event are really convenient because students can just stay after school until their time of service.
Students can also volunteer with local organizations. UA senior Sam Stoecklein volunteers with Christmas in October every year, which is an organization that helps to rebuild homes for elders, disabled people and veterans in Kansas City. In the past, he also did community service by helping on some art projects with Upper School art teacher Mr. Troy Alldaffer.
“I got a vast amount of hours from helping Mr. A paint a mural at a local church and by helping clean the art room,” Stoecklein said.
He also enjoyed the amount of time he got to spend with UA junior Kelvin Hill, as he provided him with rides to and from the mural painting.
Volunteering can be time consuming for students who are also committed to clubs, sports and jobs.
Stoecklein said, “As a dual credit and AP student, it becomes very difficult to multitask [with] 30+ hour work weeks, homework, personal time for mental health, and then community service hours.”
Learning to balance time between extracurriculars, school and life essentials could be a struggle for students who are also trying to find time to volunteer. Investing in a calendar and not focusing on overworking might help.
Upperclassmen working on the tail end of their required hours shared some advice with underclassmen.
“Choose something that you genuinely care about or have a passion for,” Coleman said.
Stoecklein said, “Start early. Don’t wait; you’ll regret it.”
In many cases, students find a place where they enjoy volunteering at and stick to it, which could result in making connections and gaining familiarity with a certain organization or a group of people. Then maybe the community service will continue even past UA graduation.
Helping out at a young age can allow someone to find something to do to fill their time, gain connections, or even find new hobbies. To find activities to attain UA’s goal for volunteering hours, search on Google for local opportunities, ask peers or even ask a staff member to help out.