In lieu of Valentine’s festivities, and love being in the air, on Feb. 14 Principal Jesse Casey announced a new community service hour requirement for graduation. After having two years of no service hour requirements, East’s new standard is negative 10 hours.
Student’s are now required to spend 10 hours completing disservices to the community to fulfill the necessary time.
Many students, including junior Josephine Lasso, shared their thoughts on this new policy.
“Honestly, I think it’s pretty stupid. Like, what are we supposed to even be doing for those 10 hours?” Lasso said.
Previously when service hours were required, students complained about completing them, so administration heard their complaints and omitted service learning requirements completely. But shortly after this decision was made, students began to complain about how the school should care more about students being active in the community and make service hours required again.
Since the new negative service rule has been implemented, students have already been eager to complete these hours, and have started by littering their trash on Freshman Hill.
But despite the rainy weather this winter forcing them to eat in the small gym, students have not held back with littering inside the school as well. Wrappers were found in all corners of the gym, and sophomore Binda Bi expressed how the colors and scents of leftover wrappers and trash “really add to the high school atmosphere.”
“It’s so easy!” said freshman Connor O’Connell. “I don’t have to clean up after myself, and still get service hours…. Every time I leave my trash out on the Hill, I log minus 15 minutes on LetServe.”
Students have been going above and beyond to fulfill these requirements, not only by littering, but also burning the flora on the hill, stealing, vandalism, trespassing and much more.
Casey says that he has “never been prouder of the students here at East” for “going out and being active in the Chapel Hill community.”
Image by Avery Tortora/The ECHO
