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Christian Service FAQs
- Where can I serve?
- You can serve at any non-profit agency (the only exception is for profit hospitals and elder care facilities) on our pre-approved list of agencies found on the SMCHS Christian Service website under "service opportunities". Your service at this site MUST be direct, hands-on service to those being served. If you are a current Freshman or Sophomore, you must do 15 hours of direct service and 5 hours of indirect service yearly. You can also do 20 hours of direct service to fulfill the service requirement. Current Juniors and Seniors must do 15 hours of direct service each year.
- What if I want to do my service at an agency or do a project not on the pre-approved list?
- You must get approval from Ms. Dzida at least two weeks before you intend on beginning your service. She will sign a service approval form for you to give to your Religion teacher.
- If another student has gotten approval for a service project at an agency not listed on the pre-approved site of non-profit agencies, do I still have to seek approval?
- Yes, you do. Each student has to get their own petition signed by the Christian Service Coordinator.
- How do I keep track of my hours so that I can receive credit for the time spent volunteering at my service site?
- Be sure to record your hours on a SMCHS Service Verification form, found in the Campus Ministry Office, the front desk in the "A" building or the Library. Take the form with you when you go to do service every time you go. Have an adult (over the age of 25) supervisor (not another student or a relative/parent) initial the form to verify the time you spent that day doing service. At the conclusion of your service commitment for that year or when the form is filled, your supervisor must sign the form and include a contact number. This must be correct and legible. Have your Religion teacher sign the form and then hand the top/white copy to Ms. Dzida. Attach the yellow copy to your Christian Service Reflection Project when it is due. Save the bottom/pink copy for your records.
- Can I complete 80 hours in one year and have it count for my entire graduation requirement?
- NO. You must complete 15-20 hours of service at an approved site each year that you are at SMCHS. This is both required to receive a passing grade in your Religion class. Any hours done over the minimum amount required yearly will be added to the student's record.
- Can I work at the same non-profit agency all four years?
- YES. In fact, commitment to one agency is encouraged as long as it fits the SMCHS service criteria.
- Do hours working in an office of a non-profit organization doing filing and other types of office work count as direct service?
- NO. You need to work directly with those being served. Doing office work for a non-profit is considered indirect service.
- Can I be a coach or tutor and have it count toward my direct service hours?
- You are required to work for a non-profit agency in order to receive credit for the time spent doing service. If there is a fee to play, it cannot be an approved agency.
- Can I get credit for hours for contributing time or treasure to a charity, such as walking for the CHOC Walk, bringing cans for the Trinity League or working at Rock For Peace?
- If you spend at least 20 hours as a leader of the activity, helping to create, organize and supervise an event that supports causes which work to create justice, you can receive direct hours for that kind of commitment. If your time was spent walking or minding a booth on the day of the event, or bringing in cans, you will receive credit for doing indirect hours.
- Can my SMCHS hours count for my Confirmation program? Can service done for my Confirmation program count toward my SMCHS Service Graduation requirement?
- Yes. As long as it follows the SMCHS service criteria. Be sure to use a SMCHS Verification form.
- Can hours spent doing direct service (using the SMCHS criteria) with Assisteens or National Charity League count for SMCHS Christian Service requirement.
- Yes. Again, use SMCHS criteria and document it on an SMCHS Verification form.
- Can I work at home caring for family members and receive credit for direct service?
- NO. Service must be at a non-profit agency that is pre-approved. Service to members of one's family is done freely, as an expression of love. Visits to relatives who are infirm and in a care facility also do not count as service hours. Service to a sibling who is disabled or sick is also not counted. On the other hand, contact with agencies which serve a family member can lead to potential service opportunities. Also, students have created service clubs on campus that seek to inform, educate, fund-raise and create opportunities for service in the wider community. Often, those opportunities have been grounded in the student's personal experience with family members.
- Can I get service credit for working at my place of worship?
- Direct service credit is given for teaching and mentoring activities, such as VBS, retreat leader or catechism teacher. The equivalent sort of activity in a non-Christian place of worship is equally valid as direct service. A maximum of 20 hours can be earned for retreat work for each given year to meet SMCHS service requirement. Non-teaching/liturgical roles, such as altar serving, lectoring, Eucharistic ministry, and music ministry qualify for meeting half of the required minimum direct hours each student performs yearly. Again, the equivalent type of activity at a mosque, temple or synagogue receives half of the required yearly minimum of direct service hours.
- Can I do service off campus during the school day?
- Generally, NO. If it is a school sponsored event, like Next Step, then a certain number of hours during the day, under the supervision of the Service Coordinator and a Deputy from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, is allowed. Any other activity which requires a student to leave campus needs prior permission from the Deans Office.
- What if I don't do the required number of hours?
- It will affect your Religion grade. Service as well as the service reflection project is 8% of each student's Religion grade. Zero hours receives a zero grade. Hours handed in that are less than the minimum also affect the grade. Service reflection projects handed in without a service verification form receives a zero grade. At the conclusion of the academic year, students who have not achieved the minimum number of service hours, suitably verified, will receive a notice from the Service Coordinator's Office, sent to their parents to notify them of the discrepancy in our records. If by senior graduation, the student still has not fulfilled the SMCHS service requirement (Class of 2012, is 60 hours, Class of 2013 is 80, Class of 2014 is 80 hours & Class of 2015 is 80 hours TOTAL), the student will not receive their diploma and the student transcript will note that graduation requirements have not been fulfilled.
- Does time spent traveling to and from a service activity count as part of my total service hours? What about if I stay overnight or an extended amount of time? Do I count the entire time I'm there?
- Time spent traveling to and from a service site does not count as part of the service; only the time doing service is counted or credited as service hours. Nor does time spent sleeping and eating while involved in a long term service activity, unless meals are being shared with those being served.
- Are meetings or training to prepare for service counted as part of the total time spent doing service?
- Meetings or training required in preparation for a service event that is a form of direct service, can be counted as part of the direct service. Time spent attending meetings/training that is required before doing an activity that is considered indirect, are also considered part of the indirect service and can be counted as such.
- I'm still unclear about the difference between Direct and Indirect service. Is there any kind of activity that doesn't count for either?
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