“Give Me Five” Community Service Requirements of the Shelby County Board of Education

Program provides: Educate all students to become advocates for community service Develop leadership skills Develop concern for others Provide opportunities for civic development Strengthen relationships between students and the community

“Give Me Five” Each high school student is required to complete a community service project each school year as a condition of graduation. The community service project shall consist of performing and reporting on at least 5 hours per year of community service or preparing a research paper on community service

SCBOE Guidelines 1. Student must not receive any financial or tangible benefit for the service 2. The community service project must be one designed to benefit the community as a whole, or a portion of the community, and cannot be for a specific individual unless prior approval has been granted 3. Community service project may not benefit any relative of the student 4. Community service project may not be one mandated by a court

Guidelines 5. Community service project must not involve any illegal activity 6. Community service project must take place in a safe environment 7. Community service project may be one organized by a school service club 8. Community service project cannot be the same hours used to satisfy requirements of any school course other than social studies

Guidelines 9. Parents or relative may not be the supervisor for the community service project 10. Student must arrange safe transportation to and from the community service project

THS Additional Guidelines 1. Completion date is April 15, and counts as a social studies grade the 4th Nine Weeks 2. No hours during the school day will be accepted!!! 3. Five hours of community service is required to be accompanied by a visual, journal, log, or written report. Agency must be on the list or accepted by the social studies teacher before service is rendered. Time card must be turned in and documented by an official from agency and by the teacher. Additional information and a list of agencies suggested for volunteering in the Alabaster area can be found on the THS website under the student services link.

4. Volunteer supervisors may be called to verify authenticity of signatures 5. Grade value will be no less than 50 points— to be decided by each teacher 6. Students who prefer to write a research paper may do so. The topic will be determined by the social studies teacher and will have the same value as community service hours (no less than 50 points). The research paper must be at least 5 pages with a minimum of 4 sources and written in MLA style.

Make sure you are not just “working for free.” You cannot do five hours of working with children at your dance studio, washing dogs at the vet clinic, or bagging groceries without getting paid for this requirement. It must be genuine SERVICE to benefit others. The agency should preferably be a non-profit group. There are exceptions: If a business or company is sponsoring a special event to benefit a specific charity they may need student volunteers for that event. A nursing home may be a “for profit” business, but you may be able to provide a special “extra” service such as reading books or playing cards with patients. Working at a function specifically designed to raise funds to benefit a local school or hospital will also count.

Tips Select a cause or charity that you could really feel passionate about helping. Devote all of your hours throughout high school to that same cause. You will feel proud when you make a significant difference rather than just serving an hour here and there to simple fulfill the requirement. When you can show that you have truly made a positive impact in your community, you may also find that you qualify to be recognized for various civic awards and college scholarships.