High School
Community Service
Announcements
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
In order to graduate from P. K. Yonge DRS, a student must complete 75 hours of community service during their four years of high school. They will receive .5 elective credit on their transcript. Students who have completed 150 or more hours in four years will be recognized with a Silver Cord at graduation. Supporting documentation will be obtained from, and returned to, the grade level social studies teacher.
SERVICE LEARNING
Service learning connects meaningful community service experiences with academic learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility. P. K. Yonge has adopted service learning as an important part of the social studies curriculum. This program
- Helps foster civic responsibility
- Allows students to interact with the community in a positive forum
- Gives students the opportunity to have more real world experiences while in high school.
- Helps P. K. Yonge increase its ties with the community
- Helps students meet requirements for colleges, universities, and scholarships including the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program.
- Encourages real world experience to reinforce the Senior Gateway project.
HOW THE SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAM WORKS
Ninth grade students will be introduced to the program through their World History classes.
When students enter the social studies required curriculum, they will write a plan each semester to indicate how they will achieve no less than 10 hours of community service. At the end of each semester, students will write and submit a reflection on their community service efforts. A student may not receive a grade in the class until these requirements are met.
All paperwork----service plans, community service verification forms, and reflections---will be submitted to the high school grade level social studies teacher. They will verify the hours submitted and report those hours to the Service Learning Coordinator.
COMMUNITY SERVICE IS NOT...
- PAID-----------------Students may NOT receive any compensation for the activity.
- DISCIPLINE RELATED------No credit for any activity that is associated with court ordered community service or punitive action ordered by the school
- FUNDRAISING------Students may NOT solicit or collect money for any organization.
- CLASSWORK------------------Generally, students may not receive academic credit for the activity.
COMMUNITY SERVICE MUST IN SOME WAY MEET ACTUAL COMMUNITY NEEDS.
The service learning activity should take place in a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to meet a community need. If a student is not working for a non-profit organization, they must receive prior approval in writing from the service learning coordinator.
P. K. Yonge Social Studies Department encourages students to use this opportunity to acquaint themselves with the variety of communities within which they live. The easiest option for many students is to volunteer at P. K. itself. Many teachers and organizations [teams and clubs] require community service as part of their program.
Beyond the school, our communities include city, county, state, nation, and the world. We would encourage students to sample the vast number of opportunities available in these areas. We would further encourage our students to be proactive, developing their own programs. Such proposals will be reviewed by a committee of social studies teachers and administrators with an emphasis on developing student initiative and creating a needed community service.