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

Previously students were heavily encouraged to participate in twelve hours of community service during their sophomore year. The program was taken away last year, but has been re-established this year, with 10 hours being recommended instead of twelve. 10th 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 that the reintroduction of community service will help students find a purpose past SPA, giving them a motive to take part in the community: “I really think that the recommendation will allow students to find a reason to show up and a reason to engage with other people in their community” she said.

Additionally Piehl believes that having sophomores work on community service early will help them later in their time at SPA: “[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”

On Sep. 10 sophomores were offered to log their first hours of community service at the schools annual back to school night where they would help parents looking for classrooms. Aldegundo Brenneman, one of the sophomores who helped out, thought that the night was fulfilling. “It was very nice to be able to help them out,”Brenneman said. He echoes similar thoughts about the return of community service as a whole: “I think it’s a great thing to do some volunteering” he said. “There’s so much moral value in serving your community.”

Sophomore Naomi Glozman believes that the initiative has motivated her to give back to the community sooner. “I probably wouldn’t have started doing community service this early,” she said. While Glozman has felt inspired, Glozman sees that the reaction of the grade as a whole has been mixed: “The first day they announced it, it didn’t seem like people were very excited,” Glozman said, but “[she] hasn’t heard as many complaints recently.”

The future of the community service program is undetermined. 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.”