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Service Program

Service Hours

The following information explains the Serviam Formation Program at Ursuline Academy.  Please review it and contact Kim Otto, Community Service Director and Campus Minister, with any questions at kotto@ursulineneworleans.org or 504-212-5129.  Please use the Service Documentation Form to document all service done during the summer and throughout the year.

Each Ursuline school shares a common commitment to forming students as servant leaders.  The Latin word, Serviam (“I will serve”), inspires all Ursuline women.  Starting with service projects initiated both inside and outside of school, the spirit of Serviam gives rise to lifelong dedication to serving the neighbor in need.

Ursuline Academy, through the five-year Serviam formation program, challenges its students to progressively explore the call to service and to Christian discipleship. The program is part of the ongoing spiritual formation process whereby Ursuline provides enriching opportunities to integrate and expand the student’s understanding of herself in relation to God, community, and the world.  Each year, students focus on a specific area of service.  Eighth graders work with the elderly; freshmen with children, education, and literacy; sophomores work with individuals with special needs; juniors focus on hunger and poverty; seniors concentrate on homelessness.  Issues surrounding these focus areas will be explored in theology classes and service opportunities will be provided for students to serve together during school hours.

The five-year Serviam formation program requires a yearly commitment to a number of service hours outside of the school day – 25 hours for eighth through eleventh graders and 50 hours for twelfth graders. Ten of these hours should be devoted to the student’s grade level area of service.  Students are to assume personal responsibility to participate in community service activities.  Summer volunteer hours are counted towards the requirements for the following year.  Service awards are given to any student who completes 100 hours of service in a year.  Students who complete 100 or more hours every year of high school receive special recognition at graduation.

What Counts Towards the Community Service Requirement?

A member of the Ursuline community shares her gifts of time and talent to serve those who are in need.  Students may choose school-sponsored service activities or seek out their own volunteer opportunities, provided they meet the Ursuline community service criteria.  Choices of appropriate service may vary from faith-based activities to service for a specific agency or underserved population.  The Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union have called us to go beyond our borders.  An Ursuline student’s community service should stretch her beyond her comfort zone, so that she is able to reach out to people who are truly in need and provide support to social justice issues.  Acceptable service work will be characterized by a Christian spirit of service, the rich traditions of the Catholic Church, Catholic Social Teachings, and scripture.

What DOES NOT Count Towards the Community Service Requirement?

While volunteering for civic, artistic, or profit-making organizations is worthy and commendable, the scope and sphere of the Serviam program focuses on service to the neighbor in need.  The following types of service do not count towards the requirement:

• Service done for a profit-making organization or privately owned business, which does not have community service as its mission
• Service done during school hours as part of the Academy’s service learning program or on St. Angela’s Feast Day
• Babysitting (the exception being working with children with special needs)
• Anything for which a student earns money
• Work done for any family members, including those who are elderly or have special needs
• For-profit camps (instead, look for non-profit camps or camps run by schools or parishes)
• Service hours completed on the Ursuline campus may not count towards the 25 or 50 hour requirement, but may used above and beyond the requirement to reach 100 hours for the service award.

If there is a question as to whether a project may be documented for credit, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the campus minister who will make the determination.

Expectations and Requirements

It is expected that most students will exceed the minimum service for their graduation requirement.  It is required that all students will devote time each year for service according to the following chart.  This chart does not reflect the expectation of service, but merely the minimum requirement.

Please note that students wishing to apply for the National Honor Society must serve an additional 10 hours above the required amount of service to be eligible for membership.

Documentation and Consequences for Failure to Meet Requirements

Service must be recorded on the official service documentation form and turned in to the Campus Ministry office by the due date each spring.  If an agency writes a letter to verify a student’s service, the student must still fill in the documentation form and attach the letter.  The person or agency you directly serve must be the person to verify your service.  Family members may not verify service.  No service credit will be given without proper documentation and verification, i.e. signatures.

Because the commitment to service is vital to the Ursuline community, failure to complete required service or to submit the community service documentation each year – by the due date – will result in the student’s second semester theology grade being lowered by one letter grade.  Also, the student will not be exempt from her second semester exam.  No extensions will be given.