Students have participated in many community service projects so far this year. Some of the projects have included sorting clothes at a local nonprofit thrift store, greeting guests and setting up at ASAP!’s annual Celebration of Young Photographers event, working on a restoration project with Habitat for Humanity, lending a hand at a local pollinator garden, making decorations and desserts for a local breast cancer event, raising money for the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Pink Rose Fund, writing holiday letters to service men and women, assembling holiday baskets for local cancer patients through Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, and sponsoring families for Christmas through the Susan B. Anthony Center. 

“Community service is so important for our students. They can see their value in the community, as well as feel as if they have connections outside of Forman,” says Jennifer Duncan, Mathematics Teacher, who has helped organize this year’s community service projects. “It is a wonderful bonding experience for the students, and they hear and see the appreciation from the people we have worked with so far this year.”

Through community service, high school students can learn the value of giving back, and some may be compelled to continue doing so after graduation. 

“I have found over the years of community service with students that they have been very likely to continue serving their communities after high school,” says Duncan. “Some of my students have decided their careers would be in the nonprofit sector after feeling the joy of service in high school. It is also so therapeutic to reach out to those in need.”

At Forman, students are required to complete 15 hours of community service each year. However, some students exceed that requirement. 

“There are already students who have surpassed the required hours for the year and are still joining in on events,” says Duncan. “I am hopeful the students find the events to be fun and to be fulfilling.”

She continues, “Once you get involved, it is easy to get hooked. I have always found that I receive more than I give when doing service, and I know there are students here who have already figured that out, too.”