Perhaps no class is better equipped to meet one of the tenets of the graduate profile than the Family and Community Services class. With the graduate profile calling for students to work for justice through community service, the class puts students in community-based activities through direct service experiences.
The students are required to set up an internship with a company within a five mile radius of the school and complete 110 minutes of service a week.
“I am actually incorporating my senior project with my volunteer time,” senior Caroline Appleby said. “I will be working with the Lovejoy Elementary third grade team and helping them with whatever they need.”
The students are allowed off-campus times three days a week. When they are on campus, they participate in school-targeted service projects.
As for off-campus time, however, there are strict requirements on what is allowed to be counted as volunteer hours. The act of service must be meaningful to the student. For example, if a student is uncomfortable with old people, they shouldn’t volunteer at a nursing home. Also, the service cannot be based out of an individual’s home or based on one individual’s needs. Yard work at grandma and grandpa’s house is not acceptable. Places like ACO, Lovejoy Elementary, and ASPCA are popular among students.
The course also puts a big emphasis on what service learning actually is. As well as campus service projects, the students are often in the classroom learning about what it is they are doing each week.