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Community Service Information
Community Service Logs
The purpose of the BRVGS Senior Community Service Experience requirement is for students to put the knowledge that they gain through their PLEs and research to use in supporting their community and/or school. Most BRVGS students find community service to be the most rewarding and educational part of their senior experience.
Students are required to serve a minimum of 10 hours for their community service requirement but keep in mind that you should serve at least 30 hours total for your professional learning experience plus your community service. Other specific requirements are outlined further down this page. Some of the community services performed by BRVGS students in the past have included:
Working with local agencies on special projects or events.
Working with public events such as plays, concerts, workshops, sporting events, etc in a substantial way.
Student organizer of an established event (free swim lessons for the community, STEM night for elementary school age)
Organizing or working at public awareness events for important issues
Students will need to develop a Community Service Impact Goal and Action Research Plan by the end of module two, OR after 2 hours of planning and community service (whichever comes first).
The Community Service Impact Goal describes, in detail:
Who (as specifically as possible) will benefit in some clear way from your planned service.
How they will benefit from your planned service or event.
Your Impact Goal should be specific in terms of what you hope to achieve ("Students at the shelter will benefit by receiving at least 10 hours of tutoring during the after school events.") It is important to note that you will not be penalized if you do not fully achieve your goal - but it is important for you to have a specific end in mind as you begin your community service.
The Action Research Plan is simply away to determine whether your service actually did benefit your target population. Your methods can be quantitative (measurable through a survey) or qualitative (interviews with people who can directly describe the impact of your service). The plan should include when and how you plan to gather and interpret the evidence that you assemble.
Good Things to Know About Community Service:
1. The Community Service Project must relate in an evident way to the overall topic of the Senior Capstone Project.
2. The community service should have a significant impact, in the sense that the student's service should be strongly felt by members of the community, either meeting a need now or providing a long standing benefit.
3. The project must be an in-person service to the community. Digital elements (creation of websites, social media accounts, etc) may not be the stand alone service, but may be a supporting component for the in-person service.
4. Only those community service activities that have been reviewed in advance by the Proposal Committee and approved by the local Senior Advisor will be counted for the BRVGS Community Service requirement. See your Senior Advisor for the link to submit your CS proposal.
5. Students may not use any hours that are counted for other organizations (including BETA, NHS, HOSA, Key Club, Scouts, church organizations, etc), or classes (such as Teacher Cadet , EMT, etc) for BRVGS Community Service hours. Students also may not use any hours for which they have been paid for their service.
6. In order to leave to serve community service time away from school during the school day, a student must submit a weekly plan to their advisor. The plan must include specific information about where the student will be, when they will be there, and must be signed by a parent or guardian.
7. While the community service is a separate requirement from the professional learning experience, it is possible for some community service opportunities to be linked to a specific PLE. For example, someone completing a Capstone in veterinary medicine might be able to complete community service requirements by assisting with a specific project for an animal shelter. In such cases, a student may, with prior permission from the Proposal Committee and their Advisor, combine their internship and community service hours for a minimum of 30 hours total.
IMPORTANT: Students who are in a first semester course (in 4X4 schools only), and whose community service activity will extend beyond the end of first semester, MUST submit a letter to their advisor and the Director containing the following:
A request for the extension, accompanied by an explanation for why it is necessary
Specific information as to when, where, how and with whom community service will be completed
The letter will need to be signed by the student and their parent(s), and will need to be submitted to the Director and the student's Senior Advisor NO LATER than December 1st. Please click on BRVGS Community Service Extension Request Example to see what the extension request letter should look like.
Once you have secured a mentor for your CS, you will need to submit the "CSE Mentor Contact Form"
Leaving for Community Service during school.
In order to leave school to serve community service hours, or for any other reason related to your BRVGS Senior Capstone, you must submit a "weekly plan," which must be signed by a parent/guardian, to your Senior Advisor prior to the days that you will be leaving. Most advisors will have a specific day/time that the weekly plan will be due. The weekly plan can be found and printed out by going to: BRVGS Weekly Plan Form
As part of the documentation (and your overall grade), you will need to keep track of all hours spent on specific activities for your professional learning experience and community service. You will do this electronically by using the Log Form that is part of the Senior Website template website.
Important note: all hours listed for your professional learning and community service must be for approved activities only! If you submit hours for something that was not a part of your approved proposal and LOI, these hours will not be counted. In addition, you may not submit hours for any activities that count for another service requirement (such as for BETA, NHS, HOSA, Scouts, etc).
Knowingly submitting inaccurate hours or hours that that have been counted for another activity will be considered cheating.
Your hours will be verified when your evaluation is completed by your mentor.
To create your time log, follow these directions very carefully:
Go to your "Google Docs" page
Click on "New" in upper left hand corner
Click on "from template" at bottom of drop-down menu
Use the "Search" feature in the Template Gallery to find the ""BRVGS Senior Log" Template.
Click on "use this template" to copy the Log into your own Docs. Name the Doc "BRVGS Senior Log + your initials" ("BRVGS Senior Log MC", for example).
Once you have filled a Log page, start a new log by following the same directions, naming the new Doc "BRVGS Senior Log + your initials, followed by the number of the Log" ("BRVGS Senior Log MC 2", for example).
Share your logs with your advisor and set the sharing so that "anyone in BRVGS can VIEW this doc"
Embed your Log Docs into the "logs" page of your senior website (see the website page for more detailed instructions) as soon as each is created.
Keep track of dates, hours and activities on your log