Need more community service hours? Want to earn a scholarship? If so, there are many scholarships available to students senior year if you do community service. Ms. Jackson from the Career Center recommends you start community service your freshman year because some of the scholarships that are out there are going to want to look back on all four years of your community service journey. West High used to have a program where you had the opportunity to earn a block “W,” but it has been discontinued this school year. The Lions Club that used to sponsor and provide the block “W” award has in its place created more scholarships available to students.

“The program was discontinued because only 0.01% of West High’s population was participating in the block “W” program, which was not enough,” explained Jackson. If you’re interested in community service or need more service hours, head on up to the Career Center and pick up a list of all the community service opportunities, as well as a log sheet to log in your hours of participation. If you are planning to go to college, it is recommended to participate because it will look good on your applications. “It is always good to get involved in your community and to get to know people as well as make a difference,” said English and AVID teacher Ms. Shauna Rodgers.

AVID and Space and Engineering students (SEA) have their own Community Service requirement for their program and awards they can earn. Sophomore Seemani Dash volunteered for the science booster’s fireworks booth last year which she said gave her a lot of hours and helped with getting to know her SEA friends a lot better. She also helped with girl’s night for SEA. Dash loves community service especially when it is tied to SEA; she feels she can get to know the program a lot better by doing community service and become more familiar with things behind the scenes.

West High still encourages you to participate in community service even though the block “W” program has stopped. Check out the Lions scholarship site at www.tracybreakfastlionsclub.org