Mia Boudreau Boudreau 1

AP Lang P2

8 March, 2019

Community Service Synthesis Essay

Thesis:

Community service should be mandated of high school students due to the growth that it

fosters and instills within both the community and the individual.

Paragraph 1:

By engaging in community service, individuals can experience personal growth and

character development. Participating in community service provides individuals with a

perception of purpose, because “doing Community Service is empowering. When an individual

goes out in the world and interacts with other people in the spirit of bettering, that individual…

will feel a sense of accomplishment” (The Dalton). This excerpt from a high school handbook

reflects how impactful community service can be not only on a community, but on an individual.

If community service was not mandated in high schools, students may choose to not partake in

community service, and by doing so, they are missing out on an opportunity to build character

and introduce positive activities into their lives. Feeling empowered, accomplished, and

purposeful, can help students in having a more positive mindset, as well as lead to other positive

traits like empathy, open-mindedness, etc. While genuine, self-motivated community service

actions are preferred, some students may find themselves inspired to complete community
 Boudreau 2

service on their own after being introduced to it due to graduation requirements set by their

school. There are also students that become involved in community service without a set

requirement, like the one that the Dalton High School handbook addresses. John Prueter, 13, was

featured in a human interest story in the Detroit Magazine that highlighted his intense

commitment to volunteering at a local nursing home. He told reporters that “even after high

school, [he]r hopes to continue working with the elderly by studying nursing. He says he became

interested in the field because of is volunteer work” (Detroit). This is exemplifying how, with

community service, one can discover passions, interests, and maybe even determine their plans

for the future. Pruter discovered that he wanted to become a nurse because of how much he

enjoyed assisting people at his local nursing home. Without his community service experience,

Prueter may not have known what he wanted to do in his future, or what he was passionate

about. Community service allows youth to explore themselves in a positive environment that

nurtures personal growth and individual learning. If a student is not self-motivated to engage in

community service or volunteer work, like Prueter, school mandated community service, like the

requirements of students at Dalton High School, can prompt students to learn more about

themselves, which can be especially beneficial during high school and college years, as most

students are still trying to determine who they are and what they want to do with their futures.

Paragraph 2:

Topic Sentence-
 Boudreau 3

Community service provides an opportunity to learn about others, one’s community, and

oneself.

Concrete Detail 1-

“Our school is a place of learning… Community Service embodies experiential learning,

locating a moral center, [and] community health…” (The Dalton).

Concrete Detail 2-

“It is important to study the great actions of others, but participating in Community

Service enables the individual to learn for himself and to teach herself” (The Dalton).

Concrete Detail 3-

“An academic study conducted in 2002 by the Center for Information and Research on

Civic Learning and Engagement” reflects that 52 % of youth consider community service to be

“educationally successful” (Lopez).

Paragraph 3:

Topic Sentence-

The actions of community service promote community betterment and can lead to a

stronger and more connected community.

 Boudreau 4

Concrete Detail 1-

“Millenials believe their generation has the greatest duty to improve the environment…

and that… [they] would impose extra civic duties on themselves, including taxes to achieve

results” (Howe).

Concrete Detail 2-

“Community Service… is about community health, because it is about empowerment and

making the world a better place, because these issues are at the core of being, we need to do it”

(The Dalton).
 Boudreau 5

Works Cited

Detroit News. “Volunteering Opens Teen's Eyes to Nursing.” ​The Language of Composition,​

Bedford St. Martin's, 2013, p. 156.

Howe, Neil, and William Strauss. “Millennials Rising.” ​The Language of Composition​, Second

ed., Bedford St. Martin's, 2013, pp. 153–154.

Lopez, Mark Hugo. “Youth Attitudes toward Civic Education and Community Service

Requirements.” ​The Language of Composition​, Bedford St. Martin's, 2013, pp. 158–159.

The Dalton School. “Community Service Mission Statement.” ​The Language of Composition,​

Bedford St. Martin's, 2013, pp. 154–155.