Secondary Student Volunteer Service Activity

As part of the senior Rhetoric II portfolio project, students are asked to complete a total of 30 hours volunteer (not-paid of for credit, required, etc.) service, including five hours during ninth grade, five hours during tenth grade, ten hours during eleventh grade, and ten hours during twelfth grade.  The secondary program assists students in finding service opportunities; keeps records on each student in grades 9-12, which can be used for transcript and application purposes, as well as for the portfolio project.  Many colleges and universities look for community service in their interviewing and final selections for college acceptance and scholarship opportunities.  To help the students in their choice of service, the following guidelines have been established.

1. The major purpose of the service requirement is two-fold: (1) to provide students with valuable out-of-school activities and responsibilities and (2) to encourage students to be a service and testimony to the community.  Implicit in this is that students, as they mature, are able to work in a wider variety of contexts and responsibilities.
2. Service-type activities at school are not normally counted for the service requirement. (An exception is some summer work projects, which will be advertised as such.) One of the goals of Providence Academy is for secondary students to work with younger students and to be a help wherever needed-this is part of being in the PA family.
3. To extend the possibilities of Christian testimony and influence, one-half (15 hours) of the 30 hour total should be in community service, i.e., not church, mission trips, Christian camps, etc. These are valuable activities, but they represent only one aspect of the potential of our Christian impact.
4. Hours may be earned during the summer, preferably for the upcoming year. Hours may not be earned for more than the upcoming year (for example, if a student works 40 hours the summer before ninth grade, the maximum from that activity would be the five hours for ninth grade).

Opportunities will be posted on the SGA bulletin board, daily student announcements, and, when warranted, specific announcements sent home with students or in Tuesday folders.

Good activities for service hours include: hospital volunteers, Salvation Army, Coalition for Kids, public library, museums, working for political parties/candidates.  Less formal activites would be to help elderly or disabled friends and neighbors clean house, rake leaves, or fix a meal.

Service hours are to be reported using the Service Validation Form.  The form should be complete, validated by a supervisor of the activity and returned to Providence Academy.  The hours will then be recorded on the student's individual record.