Every student knows that in order to graduate, they will need to complete, document, and submit at least 100 community service hours. Many students struggle to meet this goal and race to get the necessary hours at the close of senior year. One teacher took notice of this and resolved to create a solution. English teacher Marc Minsker created a “TigerServe,” a Google Classroom to help students fulfill their community service requirement.

The program was announced at the senior class meeting on February 13th. The goal of this program is to provide students with access to opportunities to complete the obligatory community service hours. In addition to simply getting students their hours, this program also hopes to give students meaningful experiences that teach the students moral lessons that stay with them throughout their lives. So far the classroom only has twenty-six members and is seeking more students to join and take part in this opportunity to advance themselves closer to graduation.

Upon realizing that many of his students did not have the required hours to graduation, Minsker discussed the issue with Assistant Principal Gregory Bargeman and the TigerServe Google Classroom was created. Minsker is the only teacher to be running and administering the Google Classroom so far, however, he is not coming up with the community service opportunities himself.

Minsker works with the Metropolitan Aids Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA) to provide service opportunities. Minsker also finds student service opportunities with local homeless shelters. Community service opportunities can also find their way onto Tiger Serve if the sponsor organization contacts Minsker with an opportunity for students to earn community service hours. Each opportunity is posted on the Google Classroom with details about the date and time of each community service session.

While Minsker does want to help students graduate, he believes that the simple act of doing community service is not enough. Once the service is completed, students share their experiences on the Google Classroom and reflect on the service that was done. Minsker said that “while the act of getting one’s hands ‘dirty’ in volunteer work is essential, the follow-up reflection and sharing out is integral in the learning process.” These follow up reflections, as Minsker calls them, allow students to learn and grow from their completion of community service.

TigerServe, although it is right now mainly geared toward seniors who are graduating in three months, is open to any and all Wilson students who wish to join. The Google Classroom will be running all year, even over the summer, and will continue to be up and running for years to come. Minsker hopes that over the years “TigerServe will eventually become a comprehensive archive of the meaningful volunteer work conducted by students at Wilson.”

If you want to join TigerServe, use this class code: uffp4l