List of 8 items.

• WHAT IS SERVICE LEARNING?

  Service learning is a form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection, as students seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves. In this process, students link personal and social development with academic and cognitive development. Experience enhances understanding, understanding leads to more effective action.
  
  

  The emphasis of the school’s Service-Learning Program is on community—actively responding to the identified needs of the community. As a school, we understand that observing the needs of our community, utilizing our faith to make moral judgments, and putting it into action allows us to learn about God, ourselves, and our world. This knowledge and self-awareness helps us to commit ourselves to being Christ’s presence in our world, working toward a more just and peaceful society.

• BENEFITS OF SERVICE LEARNING

  There are many proven benefits of adding service learning to the curriculum. Research has shown that around 80% of students who participated in a service-learning project found the experience “highly beneficial.” Furthermore, a service-learning program can:

  • Help students make connections between different academic subjects by using an interdisciplinary teaching approach.
  • Encourage students to positively contribute to their communities, while also aligning to class curriculum.
  • Allow for a hands-on learning experience.
  • Improve academic outcomes, attendance rates and class engagement.
  • Promote mutual respect and kindness.
  • Boost levels of self-esteem, empathy, and responsibility.
  • Increase awareness of community needs and local or global issues.
  • Reduce the risk of behavioral problems in the classroom.
  • Strengthen classroom communication.

• Components of the Service-Learning Program

  All service hours are to be offered for those who are in need through a non-profit organization [501(c)(3)] and must serve a community in need. Persons in a community in need include those associated with age, social, or economic background, physical, mental, learning, or emotional deprivation, or disabilities. In addition, students may serve the community by being good stewards of God’s creation and advocating for human rights.

• GRADUATION REQUIREMENT

  Students must complete a minimum of 100 service hours to graduate from Christopher Columbus High School. The following breakdown is recommended:  
  

  • 20 hours each (grades 9 and 10)
  • 30 hours each (grades 11 and 12)

  Students must complete the majority of their service hours in “direct service” to those in need through a non-profit organization, meaning that the student has direct contact with the people in need for that particular non-profit organization.

• Serving local, national, and global communities

  From mission trips to beach clean ups to serving in their parishes, our students surpass their required service-learning hours, highlighting what it means to be a Christian man in today’s society.

• REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS

  The 100-hour Christian Service Requirement is prorated for students who enter CCHS after freshman year, as follows:
  
  Sophomores: 75 hours
  Juniors: 50 hours
  Seniors: 25 hours
  
  

  If a transfer student wishes to receive credit for service hours performed while attending his previous high school:

  • He must provide acceptable, verifiable documentation of qualified service (see GETTING CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED SERVICE HOURS).
  • This documentation must be uploaded to the x2VOL System by the student within 30 days of the student's matriculation at CCHS.
  • Approved service hours performed during the school year in which the student transfers to CCHS will be credited against the prorated requirement.
  • Approved service hours performed during high school years previous to the school year in which the student transfers to CCHS will be credited against the full 100-hour graduation requirement (in this instance the student waives the transfer student proration).

• GETTING CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED SERVICE HOURS

  1.    To Receive Credit:

  1. Qualified service hours must be properly documented.
  2. Documents must be submitted according to procedure using the x2VOL system.
  3. Hours must be logged on-time according to published deadlines.
  4. Hours must be done through a 501(c)(3) organization. 

   

  2.    Deadlines for Submitting Documents:

  1. Community Service Hours earned throughout the 2020-21 school year must be submitted by Friday, September 10, 2021.
  2. Community Service hours earned on or after 10/1/2020 will follow the deadlines listed below.

  If Service Is Performed Any            Documentation for that Service 
  Time During the Month Of:              Is Due On:

  October                                             November 30
  November                                          Date we return from Christmas break
  December                                          January 31
  January                                              February 28
  February                                            March 31
  March                                                 April 30
  April                                                    May 31
  May-June-July-August                    September 30
  
  3.    Late Penalty: 
  Documents submitted past deadlines may be subject to a forfeiture of ½ credit.
  
  4.    Verification of Documented Service Hours:

  1. Without notice to the student, CCHS may seek to verify the information contained in service-hours documents.
  2. If for any reason (including inaccurate contact information contained in the document) the school is not able to verify this information, the student will not receive credit for the relevant hours. 

  5.    Student Integrity:
  

  The student is responsible for the truth and accuracy of the information contained in the documents he submits.  Submitting false information may result in disciplinary action by the school.

• CHECKING NON-PROFIT STATUS

  To be eligible for credit, service must be performed on behalf of a non-profit organization (with the exception of certain health-care organizations as described below).  
  
  Note: Non-profit status can only be conferred by state and/or federal government.  
  
  CCHS will recognize the non-profit status of any organization that has been granted either:
  

  • Florida Non-Profit Corporation status by the Florida Department of Corporations.
  • 501(c)(3) status by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

  Online Tool For Checking Florida Non-Profit Corporation Status
  Students can check to see if an organization is recognized as a Florida Non-Profit Corporation by using the handy online search tool provided by the Florida Department of Corporations.
  
  If an organization is a Florida Non-Profit, that label will appear at the top of the search result.
  
  Checking 501c3 Status
  Students can check 501c3 status of an organization by calling the IRS toll-free at: 1-877-829-5500 
  
  Need Help?
  Any student who needs help determining the non-profit status of an organization should ask Br. Al (his office is behind the LBC in front of the nurse's office) or Mr. Levy by email.