One could hardly travel the streets of Great Bend Wednesday without seeing young people working yards and public spaces. They were everywhere.

In fact, 900 students from Great Bend High School, the entire student body, spread out into the community to volunteer and help numerous non-profit organizations with numerous important tasks. They were taking part in the fourth-annual GBHS Community Service Day, a school-wide volunteer effort sponsored by the Student Council.

The kids taking part gave back to their community, learned the importance of volunteerism, established a bond with their community and earned the respect of their community, helpful when applying for scholarships and jobs. 

There were no losers.

Granted, some of the kids would have rather just had the day out of school. Surely some pleaded with their parents to just keep them home.

But, ultimately, they showed up and took part. It is difficult to speculate, but one can’t help but think they learned and grew from the experience.

GBHS StuCo members attended a meeting a fews years back. They heard about a service day project in another community and thought it would be a good fit here.

A good fit it has been.

The student council is to be commended for its foresight and efforts. School administrators should be commended for allowing the kids to be involved. And lastly, the students who got out and worked should be commended.

We can only hope that this event remains the tradition it has become. It will only make Great Bend a better place to live.

Dale Hogg