Disaster struck during the second semester of Naperville North High School’s 2023-2024 school year. North’s beloved coffee shop, The Half Caf, closed during all lunch hours. While this catastrophe elicited mourning from many, it posed a pressing question for Half Caf staff baristas: If the Half Caf is closed during lunch periods, how will I receive 20 hours of service when I’m working?
If you are wondering why lunch periods affect workers’ service hours, allow me, a former Half Caf barista, to explain. For those who work in the Half Caf, service hour compensation varies. The lunch baristas formerly earned 20 service hours per semester, the early dismissal/late arrival baristas also earned 20 service hours per semester, yet the study hall baristas earned a whopping zero service hours per semester. Instead of receiving the 20 service hours every other baristas enjoy, study hall staff members are allotted a 0.5 general credit on their transcript, similar to those given to TA’s or people who work in Student Services. As any rational person would, you may be asking yourself, “but how is that fair?”
I’m afraid the short and not-so-sweet answer is, it’s not.
Put in place by NNHS Student Activities officials and other staff members, and further explained on record by NNHS Learning Commons Director Mark Skarr, the policy says that those who work in the Half Caf during study hall periods will be granted a 0.5 credit rather than 20 service hours per semester, because the class period that they’re working in is indeed a class period. Unlike early dismissal or late arrival, study hall is an actual class, rather than a free space/period. According to Skarr, because it is against the co-curricular code to receive service hours for a class, the only form of acceptable payment is a 0.5 credit. Now that the Half Caf is no longer available during lunch hours, that is one less opportunity to earn service hours that students desperately need to collect during high school to meet the 50 NNHS hour requirement for a graduation cord. Study hall baristas and early dismissal/late arrival baristas are allotted different rewards for the same service and this is unjustifiable.
For upperclassmen, the hunt for service hours is burdensome.. The minimum service hours requirement to earn the graduation Service Cord at NNHS is 50 in-school and 50 out-of-school hours. While it may seem trivial, many NNHS students work hard to volunteer throughout their four years, hoping to earn a cord that demonstrates their dedication to service. Because of the struggle to find hours, the reward of 20 service hours per semester from the Half Caf is a sizable help to students. The service cord isn’t just an award students receive; it’s a statement saying those students care about their community and deeply value volunteering for them. This statement is one that many colleges and internships want to hear, proving to be highly vital for NNHS students. NNHS junior and former Half Caf study hall barista Russa Bassine mentioned the necessity of service hours when applying to organizations like National Honors Society.
“I didn’t have those service hours, so I couldn’t apply,” Bassine said.
The fact that Bassine and other staff workers have completed a hefty amount of service hours, yet cannot utilize them for certain purposes, is an injustice. But due to obstinate regulations, these staff members are denied the concession of claiming the hours they worked.
Understandably, some of you may be rationalizing, “Why don’t they just take a late arrival or early dismissal instead of a study hall, so they can get hours?” Or, “Well, the study hall staff gets a half credit that other staff members don’t get, so it is fair in a way.” Both of these ideas are valid, and they even plagued me while I was doing research. However, the more I dug, the more I understood why these seemingly obvious rationalizations aren’t really that simple.
In general, only seniors have the privilege of taking a late arrival or early dismissal. For freshmen and sophomores, the only available option is to volunteer during study hall. For this reason, underclassmen have absolutely no opportunities to choose a free period that would allow them to receive the 20 service hours. These facts highlight the injustice of denying the study hall staff service hours.
Admittedly, an additional half credit may be more beneficial than 20 hours of service for some students. On that off chance, I believe it would still be more beneficial if students were just given the luxury of choosing their form of credit. Those who are in need of a class credit could choose that as their payment, and those who are in need of service hours can opt for that option. The regulations regarding whether students can receive service hours during study hall should also be revised. If a student volunteers 20 hours of their time, it is only fair that they should be able to claim those hours, regardless of the period in which they earned them. This specifically aids those who are only allowed to take a study hall.
The only way to change these unjust policies is to bring them up to the officials who have the power to change them. If you believe students are entitled to the hours they work, share that idea. If you believe that students should be able to choose their form of credit for their volunteer work, support that idea as well. It is paramount that we as the NNHS community use our voices to reach out and convey our concerns to those who can make a change. From the caramel macchiatos they concoct to the boba-filled iced teas they brew, the Half Caf workers should no longer be overlooked for their work at North. Instead of palming coffee to their patrons, it’s about time the Half Caf staff be handed something: their rightful service hours.
