Seal of Service
(High School Version)
The district Seal of Service award to PUSD Students who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to making a positive impact within their community through the implementation of a research-based project. Students will complete various stages to earn the seal, including research and volunteer service, based on a topic of their choosing.
This award is available to middle school and high school students and may be completed at any time during the student’s enrollment at PUSD. To be eligible for the Seal of Service on their diplomas and transcripts, students must complete the following requirements 6-8 weeks prior to their graduation/promotion.
Students may work individually or in groups (up to 4 people)
Students may also use their volunteer service hours from the Seal of Service for other service learning awards (Points of Light Award, President’s Volunteer Service Award, and the Congressional Award) as long as the hours are earned within the same time frame.
If earned in middle school, students can earn another seal in high school, as there are different requirements for middle school and high school.
Students must fulfill each requirement in order to earn the Seal of Service. Each step must be completed in the following order. Throughout the process, students must also complete mandatory meetings with a service learning mentor.
All guidelines are listed below.
Stage 1: Introduction and Set Up
At this stage, students will:
Have a general understanding of service learning.
Start thinking about what topic(s) that interest them and start creating a plan for their project.
Decide if they would like to work individually or in a group.
Figure out who their mentor will be.
Fill out all of the Pre-Research/Volunteer documents in the hyper doc
Stage 2: Research and Development
At this stage, students will complete the following steps as part of their report/presentation:
Defining The Problem
Students will begin researching a topic facing their community that interests them. Research can include any learned curriculum from school and/or any independently-learned research. This is where students will address an issue in their community and use educational resources to come up with solutions.
Students in their Project Proposal will…
Write a description of the issue(s) being addressed.
Explain this issue beyond this community into the state, nation, and globally.
Write a description of the community being served.
Write a description of how the volunteer service will be conducted.
Creating An Awareness Campaign
Students will write and create an awareness campaign to share the issue(s) that they are addressing.
The purpose of the Awareness Campaign is to…
Educate the community and others about the issue(s)
Write a description of the issue/problem being addressed.
Optional: Use social media to spread your research/message
Example: Instagram, TikTok, Twitter
Stage 3: Volunteer Service: A Call To Action
At this stage, students will complete their volunteer service hours by:
Serving a community organization related to the issue(s) being addressed
Documenting progress through pictures
Filling out the provided timesheets
Promoting others to participate
Requirements
Students should not strive for the minimum amount of hours, but complete as many hours as possible. *Note that Research and Development (25 hrs) and Report and Presentation (15hrs) cannot be exceeded. Only the Volunteer Service hours can go over the listed amount.*
Stage 4: Report and Presentation
At this stage, students will reflect on their research and volunteer experience with a:
Report
The report must include:
A cover page, table of contents, a bibliography, and pictures of your volunteer service.
All research must be included
All service hours must be included (timesheets)
A reflection of the volunteer experience
What was learned, aspects that did/didn’t work, any accomplishments, any challenges
Presentation
The presentation will be a 10-minute overview of the entire service learning project
Can be a digital presentation or a poster-board presentation
Students can present either in-person or virtually to:
PUSD School Board, Pomona/Diamond Bar City Council, Pomona’s Promise of Promoting Academic Achievement (PAA), their school’s open hours, or any other approved public presentation
The presentation must be authorized beforehand.
Stage 5: Exit Interview
At this stage, students will finish their project with an exit interview:
The exit interview will assess aspects of the service learning project beyond your research, volunteer service, written report, and presentation.
Students will contact either Joseph Shim (joseph.shim@pusd.org) or Dr. Angelique Butler (angelique.butler@pusd.org) to schedule an interview.
All documents (Hyper doc, Timesheets, Report, Presentation) will be submitted
What is service learning?
The California Department of Education (CDE) defines "service learning" as an instructional strategy in which community service opportunities are integrated into the curriculum, with the goal of enhancing the core curriculum and helping students meet academic standards and develop a sense of civic responsibility. "Community service" provides opportunities for students to volunteer for the benefit of the community, but is a separate course.
Why is service learning so valuable?
Service learning builds on your knowledge of what is possible. It is a way to help your community while learning more about yourself. Look at the student pictures below to see examples of students participating in service learning.
Service Learning vs Volunteerism
Service Learning: teaches an individual more about a topic through a combination of volunteer work + school curriculum/research
Volunteerism: dedicating time to serve a community for a better purpose
Both are extremely important!
Learn valuable skills and gain experiences for the future
Communities benefit from student volunteers
