Our students want to volunteer. We can show them the way.

Most teachers have at one time or another rallied their students to collect canned foods around the holidays or donate to international organizations in response to a natural disaster. But do students really feel the warm and fuzzy fulfillment we’re hoping to instill just by grabbing a few cans of vegetables from their home pantries and bringing them to school?

Probably not, or at least not for very long.

The generation of students in school right now want to be involved and help causes that are important to them. In fact, they’ve demonstrated a desire to volunteer in greater numbers than groups older than them (Turner, Klein, & Sorrentino, 2020). During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 66% of Gen Z donated to help others impacted by the shutdowns (Leonhardt, 2020).

My experience as a high school teacher aligns with these data points. Many of our students are extremely altruistic and understand the impact of local volunteerism. They want to help and are eager to do it in a hands-on way. Often though, they don’t know where to start.

Creating opportunities

To capitalize on the spirit of community engagement among my students, I started seeking out “micro-volunteering” opportunities that students could fit in with their schedules. These are one-time events calling for volunteers, so the commitment is low but the exposure to local nonprofits is significant. Such events might include a charity 5K race that needs water stop volunteers, or a local spring clean-up day seeking help to pick up trash. These kinds of events didn’t require me to be the organizer, just to promote the event to students.

I started with a couple of events that I was willing to attend also. They turned into group activities with a combination of students, their friends, and family members participating.

I found one of our first events several years ago by partnering with the local United Way chapter. I boldly registered as a group leader for their upcoming “Day of Action” community service projects, and then put the details out there for students. Wearing old clothes and work gloves, we met as a group and began the work of spreading mulch in a county park one fall morning. We worked together, took selfies, and made it fun to be involved in beautifying a playground and walking trails.

It seemed like the data suggesting that today’s teenagers want to be involved in improving their community was correct. I worked at that first event beside many students I hadn’t known before that day, and their hard work and enjoyment were contagious. Some of those same students and a few others joined me on a chilly Saturday morning to serve hot chocolate and snacks after the Jingle Bell 5K run for charity that was held in December outside our city’s recreation center.

A student-sustained effort

By the time winter rolled around, students took it upon themselves to participate in an MLK Day of Service activity and help make blankets and pillows for patients at the cancer center. I was skiing with my family that day and didn’t do anything beyond sharing the details about the event with students in my school.

I keep my work-life balance in check, and I don’t throw myself into endless activities. I participate in community volunteer events a few times per year, and I simply make the needs of these organizations known to students and families. After students have built camaraderie through one or two group events each year, the idea of community service takes off on its own.

At that point, my role is to post specific events in need of volunteers. I just post a monthly list outside my classroom, and students come by to check it out. Students can pick and choose from listed events, while becoming familiar with the organizations that serve our community. Through this simple process, students begin to take ownership of their volunteering and regularly show a spirit of community involvement that is so much stronger when doing, rather than just donating.

I’ll occasionally look online for events that are seeking volunteers, but many organizations now just email me with the details of their community service needs. A few places to start finding volunteer events for students include:

Volunteermatch.org
UnitedWay.org
Local governments, especially parks and recreation departments
Public libraries
Museums and arts centers
Animal shelters or rescue organizations
Nonprofit organizations

So many organizations are looking for students and their families to help with a carnival night, health fair, tree planting, or stream clean-up that it isn’t difficult to populate the list with a variety of ways to get involved.

As a veteran teacher, I continue to be professionally rewarded and personally energized to see the enthusiasm for service my students infuse into each other and into the organizations that rely on their efforts. Our students, like all of us, crave meaningful, hands-on interactions. Providing community service opportunities for the teens in my high school has given them the launching point they need to develop these relationships and create a sense of belonging and pride within their community.

References

Leonhardt, M. (2020, September 30). Nearly 3 out of 4 millennials have donated money during the pandemic. CNBC.

Turner, J.A., Klein, B.W., & Sorrentino, C. (2020) Making volunteer work visible: supplementary measures of work in labor force statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This article appears in the September 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 105, No. 1, pp. 56-57.