Community Service
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
John F. Kennedy, 1961
DSMS students are normally required to perform service learning hours every semester.
Due dates : First Semester: Friday December 9, 2022
Second Semester: Friday May 12, 2023
7th grade 6 hours per semester
See below for your service learning paperwork that will need to be filled out and turned in to me in December for first semester and then May for second semester. See more links at the bottom of this page.
It is the goal of Desert Shadows Middle School to incorporate and apply education outside of the classroom. In conjunction with our district and state standards, we’ve established a service learning connection that bridges the classroom, our community, and the world around us. In establishing this application, we are recognizing the growing need in society for individual awareness and sensitivity, and are providing an opportunity for students to learn civic and social responsibility in a manner that reaches beyond book learning and into life.
We hope to expand the civic vision of our adolescents by leading them to explore ways in which they can contribute their gifts of youth and enthusiasm to the world around them. In addition to providing service to those in need, we believe that students reap multiple and enriching benefits that include, but are not limited to, satisfaction, pride, and confidence. Such rewards instill the awareness that commitment and responsibility to others can be mutually beneficial, enhancing gratitude and offering long lasting personal enrichment in ways few other experiences can. The Service Learning component of our curriculum enhances and brings to life a student’s education, broadens the individual, and enriches our society.
When considering activities to complete their Service Learning hours, students should choose events where there is a legitimate need for help with the community, school, or family. Students should keep in mind the difference between a “need” for assistance versus a “desire” for assistance. For example, if a neighbor has a broken leg, there is a legitimate need for help, due to the unfortunate circumstances facing your neighbor, a member of the community. On the other hand, if you are asked to babysit the neighbor children while their parents go out to dinner, you are simply providing a service of convenience based on a choice a member of the community is making. Emptying waste baskets or bagging groceries at your parents’ place of work is considered a family responsibility and not community service. You ARE allowed to help your parents at work if the establishment is an organization that benefits the community (i.e. hospital, shelter, nursing home, etc.)
*Students may not count service that requires them to miss school. For example: going to their elementary schools to help with field day.
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A COMMUNITY SERVICE FORM!!
IDEAS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE CLICK HERE