It’s fair to say that the students who attend the Global Studies and World Languages Academy are not your typical teens. While their friends may be playing video games or shopping at the mall, these caring teens are “huggers” at the Special Olympics, hospital aids at the Veteran’s Administration hospital, NobleTeens and volunteers for the March of Dimes and other community organizations. They are caring young people hoping to help change the world.
“Community service is from the heart,” said senior Joanna Tan. “You want to give back to the community to make it a better place for the future.”
And these students are “giving back” in record numbers. Recently, the Global Studies and World Languages Academy (GSWLA) classes of 2014-2017 were recognized for contributing more than 32,000 hours of valuable volunteer service.
As part of the curriculum, all GSWLA students are required to complete 140 community service hours by the time they graduate; most far exceed that number. In fact,14 students in the class of 2014 documented more than 200 hours of community service and several had as many as 700 hours. To date, the senior class has accumulated almost 12,100 hours and there are still five months before the end of the school year.
“Not only are students donating their time to a host of volunteer service projects to better serve our local and global communities, they are improving their own lives by learning new skills and gaining work experience while seeing firsthand the positive impact each has on the lives of others,” said GSWLA director Rebecca Gurley.
Thanks to the tremendous dedication of these academy students, our community IS a better place!