A Time of Giving

By JANELLE TENGCO | Dec. 12, 2019 | Student Life

At Stanton College Preparatory School, the approaching winter break signifies a period of testing for semester exams before time away from school. While it may be an intermission from the extensive workload, Stanton students utilize this time as an opportunity to meet specific requirements for scholarships or for their academic track. For International Baccalaureate students, the upcoming semester break offers them the chance to give back to their communities and log their Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) hours.

Similar to completing the required volunteer hours for Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship Program, logging in the appropriate amount of CAS hours is a criteria for the IB program. Although logging 150 CAS hours throughout the school year may be challenging to balance with the program’s demands, this requirement is divided into specific time intervals prior to the final deadline. For example, the program’s CAS handbook suggests acquiring 25 to 50 CAS hours documented by December of an IB student’s junior year.

To some IB juniors, doing CAS hours can be viewed as another obligatory task to complete for the program. There are, however, other IB students who find the voluntary aspect fulfilling as it allows them to connect with their communities. With winter break drawing nearer, IB junior Martin Wall perceives this as an opportunity to give back to his community as he leads a mini-camp at Catholic charities to help disabled children.

“It’s really good to help those who helped you,” said Wall. “Not only does it make me feel like a good person to give back, it’s good for the community and where I grew up.”

In addition to establishing a bond with their communities, IB students believe completing CAS hours allows them to be well-rounded by balancing their extracurricular and academic lives. Some IB juniors do not view CAS hours merely as a requirement, but a compilation of experiences that shape them as a person and student.

“It’s important to complete CAS hours because [it makes you] well-rounded,” said junior Jagger Leach. “You don’t just focus on academics and athletics. So, when you’re older, you’ll be able to complete many different things rather than excel at one [area].”

The benefits of CAS hours, however, depends on an IB student’s prospective career in the future and where hours are being spent. For Jagger, he is responsible for planning volunteer events for his youth group and considers this experience as a way to develop his planning skills for his future job. This aspect of CAS and general volunteering hours are emphasized by Stanton’s guidance counselors as gaining experience can benefit college applicants.

“The benefit for career aspirations are getting exposed to environments and expectations that are common for workplace[s],” said Mr. Kyle Fessenden, one of Stanton’s guidance counselors. “Seeing depictions on T.V. or media might not fully capture what it means to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. So, being able to give some of your time to see those [people] in action [will allow you to] understand the pressures that are involved.”

In Stanton, there are varied ways to acquire CAS and volunteer hours, such as through extracurricular clubs and honor societies. Senior Jeannie Wang, one of the presidents of the Stanton Kind Club, plans volunteer opportunities for the organization that benefit its members and the Ronald McDonald House (RMH).

“We have grown close with the House over the years, and they began to reach out to us more whenever they needed help,” said Wang. “For winter break, since students have more time on their hands, we want to provide more opportunities for them to come out and volunteer.”

Wang says the club has already planned a volunteer opportunity for its members during the break. To support the RMH and promote the well-being of children at the same time, volunteers are assigned to be a Santa Elf at the Saint Augustine outlets. Even if members are not able to attend these events, they have the chance to become involved in the club’s bake sales throughout the year, which can count for creativity hours.

National Honor Society (NHS) president, Sydney Chin, explains the organization’s plans for volunteer opportunities and utilizing upcoming breaks to accommodate this need. While NHS clean-ups and events are planned primarily to assist members in acquiring their hours, all students are welcomed to participate in them.

“I like to plan lots of different activities throughout the year,” said Chin. “I like to do [activities] in low-income areas, such as our assigned clean-ups. We also do peer tutoring [in the school] and our holiday activities at the Jacksonville Beach, such as Deck the Chairs. We try to plan these activities with other clubs, such as the Kind Club and Junior Civitans, to get more hours for people and include more [volunteers].”

Students are not required to do community service, but their exposure to various groups of people and situations will benefit them in their future careers. Although receiving Florida’s Bright Futures scholarship is based on the number of volunteer hours, the fulfilling experiences students earn are immeasurable in value.