COMMUNITY SERVICE
Service is an integral part of the philosophy and mission of La Salle High School. An important goal of La Salle High School is to enable all students, through their involvement in the Community Service Program, to make significant progress in their development as a “person for others.” Motivated by the example of Jesus Christ and by a growing concern for others, the student is helped to become a mature Christian who can work with others for the good of others.
The Community Service Program is not just for the benefit of the community but for the benefit of the student involved. As Catholics, we take seriously the commandment of service to others and believe the words of Jesus when he said: “Whatever you do for the least of my people, you do for me.” This command to put our faith into practice is one of the principle reasons for the existence of the Community Service Program.
To meet this goal and the State of Florida Department of Education’s service requirement for graduation, every La Salle High School student is required to:
- Perform at least twenty (20) hours of community service per academic year. Any hours completed over the twenty (20) hours may not be banked for future years.
- Those hours must be completed and turned in to the student’s theology teacher by the specified deadline. Hours completed during the school year are due by April 30 th, 2004.
- To receive credit for hours performed during the school year, the hours must be submitted to the student’s theology teacher within one month of their completion. Hours turned in after one month will not be counted towards the fulfillment of the service requirement.
- Students working for an organization for the entire year should receive monthly reports from that agency.
- Submit to the student’s theology teacher before September 12 th, 2003 the hours completed during the summer to receive credit. Summer service hours turned in after September 12 th will not be counted towards the fulfillment of the service requirement
- A maximum of ten (10) hours per academic year will be accepted for pre-approved for school related activities and a maximum of only three (3) hours for each charity walk.
- Participation in homecoming,
- Christmas decorations,
- Gift-wrapping,
- Kid’s Day to name a few activities
- Failure to complete the required hours on time will result in:
- The loss of ten (10) points from the final grade in your theology course. This loss of grade does not exempt the students from the responsibility of completing the required service hours.
- Students not allowed to take their final exams in any course until the service hours are completed and turned in to their Theology Teacher. As a result, seniors will not be able to graduate if finals are not completed.
- All hours need to be submitted on official letterhead from the organization where the hours were performed, indicating:
- Student’s Name
- Social Security number
- Grade
- Number of hours completed
- Date(s) service was completed
- Description of duties performed
- Evaluation of student performance
- Signature and phone number of the person who supervised the hours
Types of charitable activities:
Service to individuals, such as baby-sitting, mowing the lawn, trash clean up, helping someone to move, etc. are unacceptable for credit. Caring for a sick family member, while certainly an act of Christian charity, is not acceptable for service hours.
- No student may receive service hour credit for any time volunteered at a for profit business, including and not limited to: tennis tournaments, restaurants, lawyers, doctor’s, accountant’s, or real estate offices, art and craft stores, service (gas) stations, golf courses, pool and yacht clubs, bicycles stores, etc.
- Service hours may not be performed at businesses owned and/or operated by a parent or other family member. An exception will be made for students with parents or family members that work in hospitals, schools or charitable organizations that work with the poor. However, the students cannot be supervised by the parent/family member or do office work at these locations.
- Service hours will be accepted for those students who are CCD teachers or aides, altar servers, lectures, choir singers and/or assist school/parish retreats
- A list of approved organizations can be obtained from the student’s theology teacher, or the youth minister.
Additionally, there may be special circumstances that will allow students to complete service hours through other organizations not on the approved list. In all cases, the Youth Minister must provide the student with a written approval prior to beginning these service hours. Failure to receive prior approval will disallow the use of these hours to complete the service requirements. The Youth Minister, Ms. Denisse Ortiz, can be reached at extension 19 or e-mail denisse.ortiz@lasallehighschool.com
It is not the responsibility of La Salle High School or of the agency/institution where the service hours were performed to make sure the hours are submitted. It is the sole responsibility of the student who performs the service to see that the verification of service hours is turned in by the specified time frames.
Transfer students MUST submit copies of the their service hours from their previous school at the time they are admitted. If the student has not completed enough service hours for the grade level he/she is in, the student must complete them by April 30 th of the year he/she enters La Salle. For example, by the end of their sophomore year, the student must have completed forty (40) hours of community service.
Note: Many clubs and honor societies at La Salle have their own community service requirements pertaining to the number of hours required and how these hours are to be served. These requirements may exceed the hours required by the school for graduation.
La Salle reserves the right not to accept any service hours not meeting the community service philosophy of the school.
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