County Issue / Student Volunteers :...

Suzi Pisciotta, President, Thousand Oaks High School PTSA

I don’t think community service should be mandatory. I think it’s a great program, and I think the students should be allowed to volunteer for it. But once you do require it, there goes the theory of being a volunteer. I think it’s a good benefit for the students because it teaches them some responsibility, and it also helps them be around some of the senior citizens and understand the problems that they go through so that they can further understand it when they get to that age. I also think it helps in career choices, because if you go to work in a hospital as a nurse’s aide and all your life you’ve wanted to be a nurse, then you have a chance to see exactly what it’s like before you spend all that time for education and embark on a career that really wouldn’t suit you. But if it’s something that is forced on students, I don’t think they’re going to go into it with the same attitude as if they were a volunteer. A lot of students have a hard time with the academics, and this allows them to get their credit for graduation.

Charles Weis, Assistant superintendent , Ventura County superintendent of schools office

I view community service as a great opportunity for students to give something back to the community that has provided a free education to them. As you probably know, community service is being used in other parts of the country to teach responsibility, citizenship and pride in the community. If community service is not limited to menial labor, it can provide an opportunity for students to apply their academic learning and expand their learning by solving real community problems. In addition, high-quality community service could serve as an assessment of accumulated learning. With careful planning of community service, students can get experience in a field of their interest, thereby helping them prepare for a chosen career. I believe community service can provide a real improvement of students’ high school curriculum and thereby could be part of required course work, incorporated into a student’s regular workday or after school as homework.

Vicky Howard, Ventura County supervisor

I think it’s very important for students to become involved in their community. All communities need people to volunteer, and young people especially are very energetic and bring fresh new ideas. I feel so strongly about community service that I established a scholarship which makes awards to students who contribute to community service. I think that youth who become involved have a better understanding of people, the nature of their community and where they can make improvements. I have watched the youth volunteers involved with the Simi Valley Youth Council, many of them just 15 or 16 years old. When they volunteer, their personalities and understanding are greatly enhanced, and it seems to give them an enthusiasm to become more involved at the local and even the national level. I think students should be given high school credit for community service. Some people will not agree, but I think it’s every bit as important as athletics, and it can be very important to the students.

Carla Kurachi, Simi Valley school board member

Yes, definitely. For one reason, I believe that schools are not just supposed to provide academics. They’re supposed to also provide different experiences for the students so they are well-prepared to enter the work force and to promote students to be socially responsible. I believe that community service is the perfect avenue to develop the skills needed in today’s world. It helps students’ self-esteem, because they can see they can make a valuable contribution to the community. I believe it should be mandatory for all students graduating, because I think we need to make our students as well-rounded as we can. I think some students who are shy or not that assertive might not do community service if it were only an elective class. It helps them in trying to get a job, and they can certainly use it as a reference. I also think that schools should try to instill the value that students should give back to the community that they live in.

Jason Butler, President , Oxnard High School sophomore class

I feel high school students should give some of their free time to the community. If they get out into the community and work, they would feel better about themselves that they are doing something in the community to help. I think it should be done for extra credit, because some students wouldn’t enjoy helping within the community. It would be nice if everyone would, but I don’t know if everyone would do it with a willful attitude. We have many students within our sophomore class who contribute time at our local hospital. We also help with 10K runs and triathlons, so there have been some contributions to community service. We want to try to get a community service project incorporated within our associated student body class, so people could put in community service hours such as four hours a month. Our sophomore class was considering going to an animal shelter and bringing animals to a rest home for the elderly. It would be on a volunteer basis. Anyone who is interested could help.