COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS

As a Catholic School in the Salesian tradition, Bishop Ireton is committed to preaching and modeling the Church’s mandate that service rooted in justice is a constitutive element in teaching the Gospel. Students will be challenged to do acts of service leading them to encounter Christ in the poor, dispossessed, and marginalized which offer the students a lifelong possibility of charity.

The Bishop Ireton Community Service requirement is not merely “service for service sake,” but stems from our belief that our students should share their talents eagerly for the betterment of society and that they should recognize their responsibility for making the world a better place. The program is designed to provide service experiences that increase in depth and intensity as the student matures. Sixty hours of Community Service will be performed by the student prior to graduation from Bishop Ireton High School over the four year course of study. Students will also participate in a retreat each year.

SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

Freshmen: Ten hours service to be completed by the end of the school year.

Type of Service to be Performed: Service to the Bishop Ireton High School community, service in the name of the school in a service project such as the March for Life (4 hours), or any type of service as indicated below for sophomores, juniors, or seniors.

Click here for 2012 Freshmen Service Hours Oppotunities

 

Sophomores:  Ten hours service to be completed by the end of the school year.

Type of Service to be Performed: Service to the Church (local parish or diocese), five of which may be related to the Sunday Mass or service, the other five must be done at another time; OR service to a non-profit civic organization (for example: The Red Cross, Christ House, a food pantry, a thrift store.) Service must be performed outside of school hours.

Juniors: Thirty hours of service to be completed by the end of the school year.

Type of Service to be Performed: Of the 30 required hours, students may perform their hours in only two places. Twenty hours must consist of direct person-to-person(s) service (unrelated by friendship or family) to the poor, dispossessed, or marginalized. The remaining 10 hours can be a continuation of the first 20 hours of service. It can also be spent in work for the Church (not related to the Sunday Mass or service) or at a local non-profit organization. Service must be performed outside of school hours.

 

 

Seniors: Ten hours of service to be completed by the end of the school year.

Type of Service to be Performed: Direct, person-to-person(s) service (unrelated by friendship or family) service for the poor, dispossessed or marginalized, OR service which has a direct impact on the poor, dispossessed or marginalized such as organizing a “Dresses for Prom” or “Habitat for Humanity fundraising drive.” OR service for an advocacy group.  Examples would be SALT or The Catholic Worker.  Service must be performed outside of school hours.  

 

EXAMPLES OF SERVICE PROJECTS

Bishop Ireton High School encourages a wide variety of volunteer and service activities. Service provides students with the opportunity to draw on and to share their gifts and abilities and to expose them to people and situations that are different from what they already know and do well. Service that involves working with people who are disadvantaged, poor, dispossessed or marginalized includes helping the poor, homeless, handicapped, the elderly, those who are sick, children of elementary school age or younger who are disadvantaged, and immigrants. Examples of this type of service include working at a soup kitchen or family shelter, volunteering with Special Olympics or at a handicapped learning center, visiting a nursing home, working as a hospital volunteer, tutoring young disadvantaged students, helping people with their English, coaching disadvantaged or underprivileged young children, assisting at a day care center, participating in a “work camp,” or working with Head Start or Habitat for Humanity. All service hours should reflect the type of service required for that particular academic year.  There are examples of places where students have performed their hours on the Bishop Ireton website, “Student Life” “Campus Ministry” “Volunteer Sites.”  This list is not inclusive, but merely examples.

FORMS & GUIDELINES

All students are required to make use of the Community Service Forms that can be found by clicking here: (Student Agency Agreement Form, and the Attendance and Evaluation Form) and are available from the director of Campus Ministry. At the end of the service experience, students will write a reflection paper. The assignment will be given by the religion teacher and will reflect the themes and goals of the class. Ordinarily, service hours are to be done during the academic year in order that the religion teacher can give input and direction for service. However, it is permissible for students to perform their hours during the summer prior to the upcoming school year. Any student who chooses this option must seek approval in advance from the director of Campus Ministry (dunnb@bishopireton.org) or, for juniors only, the teacher of the Life in Jesus class. Failure to obtain prior approval may render the service performed invalid for credit.

 

CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT PERFORMING SERVICE

Freshmen, Sophomores and Seniors: Failure to complete the required number of hours and/or failure to turn in a completed reflection paper will result in the lowering of the student’s second semester grade by one level for each hour of non-performance. In other words, a student who earned an A and who does only 9 hours of service will receive a B, 8 hours of service a C, 7 hours of service a D, 6 or less hours of service an F. (Please note that a C+ grade will be lowered to a D; a D to an F.) Once the ten hours have been completed after the end of the second semester, the students’ grade may be changed back to the earned grade at the discretion of the academic dean, the religion teacher, and the director of Campus Ministry.

Juniors: Failure to perform the 30 hours will result in an F grade in the course. The 30 hours of service must be completed in order to graduate from Bishop Ireton. Community service hours completed after the end of the school year will result in a grade for the course no higher than D.

There will be no carry-over of hours from one year to the next. Seniors who are behind in their service hours will be reminded those missing service hours may jeopardize their graduation plans if not completed by the published dates.

OTHER NOTES REGARDING COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS