It’s almost June, which means most seniors are getting ready for Students Helping Others United Together (SHOUT), an opportunity the school gives them to go out into the community to volunteer.  However, SHOUT isn’t the only volunteer opportunity available at West Potomac.  Many clubs and activities offer a plethora of volunteer opportunities for all grades. Classes and clubs like leadership, National Honor Society and Key Club provide many service learning opportunities year round.

“Key Club gives back to the community through service projects,” said vice president of Key Club, Haleigh Hopper. “We are currently working on promoting the West Potomac walk-a-thon, which we will also help run.”

Other volunteer opportunities at West Potomac include tutoring, cleaning up the community, helping at the polls during voting season and volunteering at United Community Ministries (UCM).  

Junior Hannah Nobles has a unique way of giving back to the community through a nonprofit called ArtSpire that partners with the West Potomac dance team.  Nobles has danced at the 9/11 Hero’s Run, at a banquet for Wounded Warriors and is currently choreographing a piece that will hopefully perform at Curefest, an event to help end cancer.  

“I really enjoy volunteering through ArtSpire, because it is so rewarding to give back to my community and help others,” said Nobles.

While  it can sometimes be hard to find volunteer positions, and staff at West Potomac are always available to answer questions and have plenty of opportunities to inform students about.  History teacher Jeffrey Feinstein posts any volunteer positions that he learns about on Blackboard and sends out Remind101 messages for students to see, but students looking for other opportunities can visit the College and Career Center next to the cafeteria, or they can ask their counselor.

Nevertheless, volunteering can be an important and beneficial activity. It helps people grow and learn the importance of helping others.

“Volunteering is important because even the smallest thing can have a big impact on someone’s life or it can improve your community for the better,” said Hopper, “It is also a way for someone to make a positive change in their community that they feel is important and it helps people feel connected to their communities.”