COMMUNITY SERVICE
Community service provides students with important opportunities for personal growth and helps them develop compassion and concern for others. Students are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zones, as that is where the greatest possibilities for growth lie. A worthwhile service project can have a deep and lasting impact on one’s own life and the lives of countless others. Each student must complete 25 hours of community service per school year while in attendance at St. Joseph Academy. Service done during the summer counts for the school year following the summer. Verification forms can be accessed and printed from the SJA website (www.sjaweb.org). Guidelines are as follows:
1. All service projects must be approved by the student’s Theology teacher. If the
Theology teacher cannot be reached (especially during the summer), projects must be approved by the Principal.
2. Community service must be done through a non-profit organization. Forms must be signed by an official representative of the organization; that representative may not be a family member.
3. Students may not accept payment for their community service.
4. Service projects should address some form of community need. All service should meet one of the eleven categories for service listed below:
5. For students in grades 10-12, at least 15 hours must be done in direct contact with people (or animals) in need. For 9th graders, at least 10 hours must be done in direct contact with people (or animals) in need. Examples of direct contact projects include visiting the elderly at a nursing home, working at a soup kitchen, coaching youth sports, working with children at a Vacation Bible School, working on a Habitat for Humanity home, and walking dogs at the Humane Society. Direct contact hours are the ideal form of community service!
6. Service hours must be done outside normal school hours.
7. Service hours will not be counted if they are done as a requirement for a club or athletic team.
8. Deadline for completion of all service hours is one week before the end of the third quarter. Extensions to the deadline may be granted by the Theology Department for particular projects.
9. Students who do not have their service hours completed and turned in by the deadline above will receive an incomplete grade in their Theology class for the third quarter. Failure to meet the service requirement by the end of the fourth quarter will result in an F in the student’s Theology class for both the third and fourth quarters. A student’s original grade will be restored if hours are turned in after the deadline, with the exception of any late penalties given by the student’s Theology teacher that may apply to a community service-based reflection assignment. Underclassman hours must be completed to attend Prom.
10. Service hours must be completed for continued attendance at St. Joseph Academy.
11. Senior hours must be completed to participate in any senior activities falling after the deadline, including but not limited to: Prom, Grad Nite (or similar event), and Graduation. Completed hours are a requirement to receive a St. Joseph Academy diploma.
