There is a trend that is slowly happening and is threatening to sweep the nation. For once, it’s nothing bad or deplorable, but rather its a wonderful thing that is making difference in the lives of others. Many schools have started to institute a community service requirement for graduation. There are some legalities that prevent it from being a part of each and every school but for those that are implementing it they are seeing some really great results.

Through this program people are typically allowed required to do between 40 and 80 hours of community service at places designated by the school. Students can petition to have other places, not on the list, count towards their hours. The time sheets must be stamped by the manager or the project leader of the community service they are doing.

The schools are doing this for a few reasons. The first of course being that they are seeing good things happen for the community. The other reason is that it helps up the public image of their school. Perspective students see that the school is a place that helps people and while it doesn’t always fuel there decision it can have a great impact on the parents.

They also do this in large part for the children. It’s important that students get out there and associate with those who are less fortunate. There are stories of students taking on volunteer work after their requirement has been met and there are students who form special bonds and friendships with the people they help. It’s a rewarding experience and one that students can really learn from as they move forward onto college and beyond.

Community service isn’t just something for church groups. It’s something that schools are using to teach students a valuable lesson outside the classroom.