June 3, 2011
Guilford County Schools' (GCS') seniors logged 33,537 hours of service activities this year. That's nearly 1,398 days, or about 200 weeks, or more than 46 months of service to schools and community groups across the county.
More than 6,100 of those hours came from Dudley High, which received the Service Learning High School of the Year award Wednesday at an event to celebrate the district's character development initiative. Loren Byers was responsible for 290 of them, making her the Enrichment Region student with the most individual service-learning hours. She also received the regional award for most impactful service for her work with students at Hairston and Aycock middle schools as a peer mentor.
Dudley also was recognized for having the most seniors who will be receiving the Service-Learning Exemplary Award, a new designation beginning with the class of 2011. The school earned 87 of the 440 service-learning awards given this year. The Early College at Guilford had the highest percentage of its students, 84 percent, receiving awards.
"We are so proud of these students for embracing the service-learning concept and making a commitment to give back to our community," says Kimberly Fields, student assistant program coach for the Northern and Enrichment regions. "They are an inspiration to their peers and are truly deserving of this honor."
To receive the award, students were required to log a minimum of 50 hours of service-learning experience. That number will be raised to 75 hours in 2012 and 100 hours in 2013. Next year, students will also have the opportunity to earn a service-learning diploma, reflecting 175 hours of commitment.
These designations fulfill part of the district's strategic plan, which calls for an increased emphasis on character development. With 100 percent of schools engaged in character development, GCS has become a nationwide leader in the curriculum. Superintendent Maurice "Mo" Green and five GCS students participated in the National Service Learning Conference earlier this year.
Tony Farley of Ragsdale High had the greatest number of service-learning hours recorded with 319. Other students receiving recognition for individual service-learning hours included Samantha Coffer, Northern High; Briyanna Summers, Southern High; and Devan Crane; Northwest High. Awards for most impactful service experience also went to Abubakr Hassan, Western High; Kate Chamblee, Page High; Olivia Clapp, Southeast High; and Deshawn Adams, Middle College at GTCC-High Point.
