“When I found out that the county no longer gave 10 SSL hours a year for coming to school, I thought it was the end. But then, the Key Club saved my life,” said Joann Hegbe, a freshman at Paint Branch High School. “It’s an easy way to earn SSL hours and have fun (kinda).”

Have you ever wondered why we need so many extracurricular credits and SSL hours?

“Why can’t being smart be enough to pass? It’s not like everyone’s life goal is to be the world’s greatest Samaritan or anything,” said Heldana Eskender, another distressed freshman. Most, if not all, teens have thought this at some point. Some even tend to disregard these hours because they have been taught that good grades automatically get them into good schools, but extracurricular activities and SSL hours are not just necessary, they are crucial to academic learning. Extracurricular activities like after school sports and clubs offer colleges insight as to a student’s personality and interests. So not only do they increase appeal but they also build character, social skills, and promote resiliency in youth.

Now that you know all the benefits of extracurricular activities and SSL hours, you may be wondering, how can I earn these credits? You could join a school sports team or you could join the Key Club where you can be involved in an extracurricular activity and still earn SSL hours. The Key Club held their first meeting of the year September 18. They meet on Thursdays after school to pack lunches for the homeless and prepare bake sales. You could design the Key Club shirt and posters to earn SSL hours, and if you’re not the artistic type you could get hours just by wearing their shirts. As easy as all of this sounds, there are always those slackers who join just to take advantage. If you don’t participate and you repetitively miss meetings, you will not receive SSL hours.