Community Involvement
Students must complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement activities before graduating. These activities can start during the summer before Grade 9 and at any time during the secondary school program.
The community involvement requirement is designed to encourage students to develop an awareness and understanding of civic responsibility and of the role they can play in supporting and strengthening their communities. The requirement will benefit communities, but its primary purpose is to contribute to student development.
Choosing Activities and Projects
Students, in collaboration with their parents, will decide how they will complete the community involvement requirement. They may use their annual education plan to identify possible activities they might undertake.
Teacher advisors will discuss appropriate types of community involvement activities and projects with students and may offer suggestions. However, the selection and management of the involvement is to be directed by the student. Community involvement activities may take place in a variety of settings, including businesses, not-for-profit organizations, public sector institutions (including hospitals), and informal settings.
Where and When to Complete Community Involvement
Students may not fulfill the requirement through activities that are counted towards a credit (cooperative education and work experience, for example), through paid work, or by assuming duties normally performed by a paid employee.
The requirement is to be completed outside students’ normal instructional hours. That is, the activities are to take place in students’ designated lunch hours, after school, on weekends, or during school holidays.
Recording Community Involvement Hours
Students must maintain and provide a record of their community involvement activities. Completion of the required 40 hours must be confirmed by the organizations or persons supervising the activities. Hudson students will record this information on our Community Involvement Planner(s) and submit same to the Principal attesting to the completion of each activity. This documentation must include for each activity the name of the person or organization receiving the service, the activity performed, the dates and hours, the signatures of the student and her or his parents, and a signed acknowledgement by the person (or a representative of the organization) involved.
The Principal will decide whether the student has met the requirements of both the Ministry and the College for these activities. The fulfillment of the community involvement requirement will be recorded on the student’s transcript and stored in the Ontario Student Record (OSR).