Don't waste 96,000 man-hours: Put kids to work in final days of school

School kids could be doing great work as volunteers instead of twiddling thumbs before summer vacation.

By Brian McMillan
| 2:09 p.m. June 12, 2019

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Most years, my children exult in the pointlessness of the final days of school. “We’re watching movies! We’re eating pizza! We’re playing games!”

But this year, I heard some different arguments: “Do I have to go? My teachers said we’re not doing anything important.”

Hmm. I’m sure some teachers make good use of the time, but I have another suggestion.

To put it in perspective, we are talking about a lot of man-hours. If there are about 12,000 school children in Flagler County, and if they are mostly twiddling their thumbs (or skipping school) for four hours on each of the final two “pointless” half-days of school, that’s 96,000 man-hours wasted.

With some planning and supervision, and with some input from nonprofits, the students could volunteer for those hours. Can you imagine a class of fourth graders reading books at a day care? Can you imagine a class of seventh graders filling bags for the food pantry? Can you imagine a high school class working on a house for Habitat for Humanity?

Let’s put our students to work and give them good memories at the end of the school year — and show them what it really means to be part of their community.

author

Brian McMillan

Brian McMillan and his wife, Hailey, bought the Observer in 2023. Before taking on his role as publisher, Brian was the editor from 2010 to 2022, winning numerous awards for his column writing, photography and journalism, from the Florida Press Association.