HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The bill that would partially waive the requirements of the service learning mandate garnered much support from education officials who backed the Guam Youth Congress’ measure.
Bill 109-37 was introduced by the Guam Legislature on behalf of the Guam Youth Congress, which saw the need to request relief for graduating students who were freshmen and sophomores during the pandemic-impacted school years of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
“Instead of requiring graduating seniors to complete the mandatory 75 hours of service learning hours, those in school year (2023-2024) would be required to complete 35 hours and those in school year (2024-2025) would be required to complete 55 hours,” Sen. Amanda Shelton said during a public hearing on Sept. 20.
Similar measures that waived the service learning requirements altogether were passed by the Legislature as a result of the unique challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented for students. As in those instances, the premise for the partial waiver in Bill 109-37 is similar.
“In that spirit, Bill 109-37 proposes a reasonable balance between fulfilling the objective of the service learning requirement and the extraordinary circumstances our youth and families face, which have only been exacerbated by the devastating effects, of course, of Typhoon Mawar over these last several months,” Shelton said.
Personal testimony from Guam Education Board Vice Chair Maria Gutierrez called for lawmakers to listen to the youth who pushed for the bill.
“(Bill 109-37 is) coming from the youth. We need to start listening to them. We need to listen to them,” Gutierrez implored.
Her support centered around the difficulty some students experienced in being able to complete the service learning hours as required as a result of circumstances beyond their control.
“Some kids don’t have transportation,” she said. She cited a student who told her he was having a hard time completing his service learning hours for graduation for that reason.
“We need to find a way to help our kids because parents are working,” she added.
Gutierrez told senators that there are many graduating seniors lacking service learning hours.
GEB member Ron McNinch also supported the measure, and he spoke about “some of the real hoops” students endure, adding that such hoops are “unnecessary.”
Bill 109-37 also garnered support from senators.
Sen. Sabina Perez described the measure as “thoughtful.”
“It’s very important to hear the concerns of any burdens placed upon our youth in regard to graduation,” Perez said.
Amanda Shelton
Lily Vinch, Guam Youth Congress speaker, judges submissions for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition at the office of Del. James C. Moylan in Hagåtña on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
Maria Gutierrez
