Windham High School students are split on the worth of a new policy requiring they complete 10 hours of community service for each year in high school.

While many students feel the policy will foster a greater partnership between the school and the community at large, others say it is an unnecessary imposition that contradicts the purpose of volunteerism.

Ian Dufour, a junior from Raymond, said he has heard complaints from other students regarding the policy, but thinks it is a good idea. Community service work will allow students to familiarize themselves with their town while instilling good habits, he said.

“It’ll keep kids in the community and set them up for the future,” said Dufour. “There are a lot of people looking for help.”

The requirement, said senior Rebecca Morris, will force students to do what they should have been doing all along.

“I think Windham High School students have to get more involved in the community,” she said.

But other students resent that the service is being forced on them. Chloe Mack, a junior from Windham, said the point of volunteering is to surrender your time and effort because you want to, not because you have to.

“It’s not volunteer work if they make you do it,” said Mack.

Mack Rampino, a senior from Windham, said it is beneficial for the community to have students performing community service. But he wondered how it fit in with the curriculum.

“What does it have to do with school?” he said.

Some students who supported the premise of the policy, if not the exact language, offered ways to improve it.

A number of students said the hours needed to fulfill the requirement – 40 through four years for this year’s freshmen class – were too high, especially for students who are involved in athletics and other after school activities.

Lauren Weeks, a senior from Raymond, suggested that more classes incorporate into the curriculum community service projects related to a particular subject. Students could then fulfill the requirement while learning, she said.

Rebecca Morris, also a senior, said the program needs to include more service opportunities in Windham, for students who do not have transportation. Senior Amber Loring said students should be able to tutor at the town’s other schools to meet the requirement.

While students will in the end complete the required hours, said Rampino, it will likely take some time for the program to generate enthusiasm and goodwill among the student body.

“They’ll do it,” he said. “But I’ve yet to hear anyone say they are excited about it.”