Service
Service—collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need
PLEASE NOTE: If you plan to do any sort of fundraising, please refer to our service calendar:
The Social Outreach Calendar [2023-2024]
Available also on Google Calendar here.
From 2023, the service strand of CAS will be explored, reflected and completed in the RCE class.
The IB defines four kinds of service actions. It is recommended that students engage with different types of service within their CAS programme.
Direct service: Student interaction involves people, the environment or animals. For example, this can appear as one-on-one tutoring, developing a garden in partnership with refugees, or working in an animal shelter.
SERVICE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DIRECT IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE MEANINGFUL.
Indirect service: Though students do not see the recipients of indirect service, they have verified their actions will benefit the community or environment. For example, this can appear as re-designing a non-profit organization’s website, writing original picture books to teach a language, or nurturing tree seedlings for planting.
Advocacy: Students speak on behalf of a cause or concern to promote action on an issue of public interest. For example, this may appear as initiating an awareness campaign on hunger, performing a play on replacing bullying with respect, or creating a video on sustainable water solutions.
Research: Students collect information through varied sources, analyse data, and report on a topic of importance to influence policy or practice. For example, they may conduct environmental surveys to influence their school, contribute to a study of animal migration, compile effective means to reduce litter in public spaces, or conduct social research by interviewing people on topics such as homelessness, unemployment or isolation.
All service must evolve beyond doing for others to engaging with others in a shared commitment towards the common good. This collaborative approach maximizes benefits for all.
Meaningful service requires:
understanding the complexities of issues such as poverty, illiteracy, aging, isolation, health or environmental sustainability that underlie an identified need
verifying the need for the service (what is the authentic need?)
interacting with individuals or groups in the community during all stages of the service experience in a way that aligns with their rights and dignity.
“Think Global, Act Local”
Students are encouraged to identify and engage with global issues and find ways to act on them in their local communities. This could mean raising awareness of a global issue through a focused campaign, organizing a “love your ocean” day at school, supporting local programs engaged in education campaigns, distributing resources for emergency safety, etc. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is a great place to start looking for issues of global significance to address.
Service Activities Offered At Seisen in 2022:
* Although activities are listed here, they may not be offered every year.
Leadership/Assisstant Positions:
Mini Mina (Ms. Mina)
Sidekick Program (Ms. Kotowich, Mr. Carter, Mrs. Nienhaus)
Student Council (Mr. Mitchell)
Class Reps (Mr. Mitchell)
Elementary After-school activities assisstant (SASA) (Mr. Lewis)
Instrumental music assistant for the Beginning Concert Band program (Ms. Hashimoto)
Science-Related:
Operation Earth (Mr. Wilk)
Medical Careers Club (Ms. Lui)
Ms. FIX it (Ms. X)
Sport-Related:
Girls’ Athletic Association (Mrs. Nienhaus)
Wellness Club (Mrs. Nienhaus)
Assistant coaching (Mrs. Nienhaus)
Social Justice Related:
Social Justice Committee (Ms. Alo)
GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) (Ms. Erika)
Anti-Racism in Education Alliance (AREA) (Ms. Alo and Ms. Wilson)
Other:
Model United Nations (MUN) (Ms. Yunus, Ms. Maekawa)
TedX @ Seisen (Mr. Mitchell)
Seisen Adventurers (Ms. Joji)
Seisen Service Club (Ms. Joji)
Breast Cancer Awareness (Ms. Joji)
Tutoring (Ms. Dawson)
Bridge to Vietnam (Mrs. Nienhaus)
National Honor Society (Mr. Walters)
Prom Committee (Mr. Lee and Mr. Mitchell)
JCS (Japan Cancer Society)
Dilkush (Ms. Ota)
Hands-On Tokyo EL (Yui and Kanak in G11)
Service and Volunteer Medical Club EL (Miyabi and Kohko in G11)
Seisen Media Team EL (Judy in G11)
Seisen Event Production Team (Mr. Brittain)
Check out Seisen Action, a website put together by our own students as part of their CAS project which includes information for non-profit organizations that you can be involved in, or dig deeper if interested.
Click here for ideas for actions you can take towards gender equality and women's empowerment
Examples of Service Experiences that students can pursue on their own:
ESA (Education Sponsorship Asia)
TASSEL
Beach-clean up
Reading to eldery or elementary students
Trail maintenance
Implementing recycling programs
Volunteering at an animal shelter
Obtaining funds or organizing a community garden
Plan, participate, or implement an activity for a day of international recognition
Coach children in sports
Deliver meals to people living with a medical condition
Lead resume-writing workshops for people who are unemployed
Play music with elders to have an exchange of skills and learn about each other’s music preferences and talents
Organize or assist at a blood drive
Distribute plants at a farmer’s market to promote home-grown container gardens
Prepare the soil and beds for an elementary school garden and plant with children
Restore a stream
Serve food at a soup kitchen
Grow seedlings for distribution
Make a storm-water garden
Help at an animal shelter with data entry and dog walking
Assist with a pet adoption outreach program at community events
Lead a workshop on pet care
Set up a turtle sanctuary in partnership with a community organization
Assemble a photo exhibit about poverty for a gallery
Take part in a walkathon to raise money for different humanitarian efforts Prepare activity kits for children for an emergency shelter
Write brochures for organizations
Build an organization’s website or provide content for an organization’s website
Assist with the creation of a museum exhibit
Create a newsletter for a retirement community
Make exercise videos to give to homeless shelters
Record audio books for people who are visually impaired
Prepare signage for a local wetland
Initiate a school compost to reduce food waste in landfills
Lead a town hall meeting on solar energy
Organize a letter-writing campaign for a cause
Host a speaker and film series to raise awareness for the community
Create comic strips or comic books to teach about emergency safety and readiness
Plan a conference to raise awareness about education equity
Provide reusable water bottles to replace single-use water bottles
Create public service announcements on energy reduction in homes
Organize a flash mob to teach about recycling
Promote a “just use less” campaign to reduce quantities of what is put in trash and recycling bins
Make beach signs to protect local waterways from rubbish
Advocate for animals at risk at an organized public event
Create posters, videos and public service announcements to promote animal adoption for a shelter
Assist with a city-wide needs assessment by running focus groups
Conduct hands-on research about how interaction improves quality of life for residents at an elderly care facility
Prepare a public service outreach process to identify local veterans willing to be interviewed, and then conduct the interviews for an historical society
Observe play habits of children in an orphanage or refugee centre to identify what skills are developed or need support
Analyse items collected in a community or beach clean-up to develop a campaign (advocacy service) that prevents the items from being littered again
Assist with tracking and monitoring of butterfly migratory paths
Create a website with information about flora and fauna for a local park
Make zoo toys for animals
Collect needed supplies for a wildlife rescue centre
Bake dog biscuits for an animal shelter
Make colouring books with protection tips on local endangered animals for elementary schools and tourists
"Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served." - Gandhi
More Service Opportunities:
Teachers Do Service
Teachers were asked to reflect on their own hobbies and activities, and how they could be counted as CAS. The point is that CAS extends beyond the DP; it is about being a well-rounded human being beyond school and throughout life.
See the sticky notes on the right to see what teachers do, and see the video below to see some of the 'life lessons' teachers have learned from CAS.
Service at Seisen:
