Service Hours

NHS Service Hours Guidelines

When are my hours due?

Fall hours: December 18 (Hours earned between June 1 and December 18)

Spring hours: May 16 (Hours earned between December 19 and May 16)

NO LATE HOURS will be accepted.

How many hours do I need to complete?

You must perform and document 10 hours of community service per semester. 5 of these hours per semester MUST be with projects sponsored by the NFHS National Honor Society. 

What is community service?

Community service is… 

• Supervised by an adult (non-family member)

• Unpaid

• Provided for a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) or the Fort Mill Schools community

• Time spent completing the activity, not traveling to or from

• Not completed for an internship, course, sports team, or another club (e.g. Beta Club, Student Council)

• Completed outside of school hours (except for Flex time if you are not scheduled for Flex by a teacher or administrator)

If you’re in doubt about whether or not the activity will count, please see an adviser for possible pre-approval. 

What does NOT count as community service?

Philanthropy: The act of donating or raising money differs from community service. In order to earn community service hours, a student must give time rather than funds. Examples of philanthropy: donating goods (e.g. bringing in canned food, making a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child), donating money, participating in a charity walk or run. An exception would be volunteering at a charity walk or run doing an activity such as handing out water.

Community volunteering: Volunteering for a friend/neighbor/for-profit organization, e.g. walking a dog, babysitting a neighbor’s child, doing unpaid labor for a local business.

Religious Activities: Time spent on activities that only benefit the membership of a religious organization cannot be counted as community service hours. E.g. Working with youth groups, acting as an usher or greeter. The exception would be doing service with a religious organization that benefits or is open to the broader community (e.g. unloading and unpacking food at the food pantry w/ fellow church members, putting together supply bags for the homeless at your temple, volunteering for an event open to the public)

Student Organizations: Time spent on activities that only benefit the membership of an organization cannot be counted as community service hours. E.g. Setting up for/leading/attending meetings, preparing materials such as agendas or flyers, service required of you as a member of that organization (e.g. Senior Day as a member of Student Council, basketball camp as a basketball team member)

How do I find NHS-sponsored activities?

Please see the NHS Google Classroom page for posts about NFHS-sponsored activities as your officers provide information about these service activities.

If you are a member and not an officer, but you have an idea for a project for the whole organization, please come see one of your advisers. You can earn hours for organizing a service project for NHS members.

What defines an NHS-sponsored service hour?

An NHS sponsored service project is an event that has been shared by NHS. These include recurring events or anything that is posted on Google Classroom. A good rule of thumb, if you find it on Google Classroom, its NHS sponsored. For example, if we post that Sustainability Club needs help and you work with them for 30 minutes during FLEX, that is an NHS hour. 

Essentially, it is an opportunity that has been shared with the whole organization. Outside hours are ones that students find on their own and meet the qualifications discussed above.  

How do I document my NHS hours?

Upload your hours to Innerview. To create an InnerView account, see the InnerView directions. Be sure to join the National Honor Society group.

Do NOT combine all of your hours into one entry. If you do the same activity multiple times on multiple days (e.g. peer tutoring, going to the Historic Paradise Foundation) you must upload an entry for each time you visited, along with the correct dates. 

For hours to be approved and counted, they must:

1. Meet the above definition of what is community service

2. Include a picture of you completing the service

3. Include a brief description of the service provided

4. Provide contact information for the supervisor

5. Be logged specifically with NHS (make sure it is tagged this way)

If I’m not counting my hours for another club can I count them for NHS?

Yes. If you’re serving with another organization but not doing it as part of your obligation to that organization (i.e. getting service hours for Beta Club, completing a course requirement, acting on behalf of your team) then you may count those hours toward your National Honor Society service hours.