Two AHS students help out during the Jan. 10 EL Family Night

  • QUESTIONS?

    Community Service Coordinator

    AHScommunityservice@ashland.k12.ma.us

    • SUBJECT LINE FOR EMAIL should be simply: CS question STUDENT NAME,  YOG (e.g., CS question Jane Doe, 2022; CS question John Doe, 2023, etc.) There is no need to write anymore than that in the subject line for a question.

     

    Questions regarding Community Service for National Honor Society should be directed to NHS Advisor Ms. Marybeth Gallant at mgallant@ashland.k12.ma.us.

  • At Ashland High School, we believe in the importance of giving back to one’s community and assisting those in need. In addition to the direct benefits garnered by the recipients of community service, our students are enriched. Offering support to others brings personal fulfillment, fosters a healthy sense of self-worth, and instills compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves. 

    To this end, each student is asked to complete a minimum of 25 hours of community service during their high school career.  While we hope that service to others will be a lifetime commitment for our AHS students, we begin documenting community service hours toward the graduation requirement of 25 hours on and after the first day of a student’s high school career (i.e., upon completion of eighth grade).  The minimum requirement of 25 hours must be met by the first day of senior year in order for a student to have senior privileges.   

    Please understand that tracking community service hours takes significant staff time and tracking students down who have not completed the required hours take additional valuable staff time. We implore  students to work diligently to ensure that at least ten community hours are turned in by the first day of senior year.  

  • GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE 

    • Community Service is an action performed with or on behalf of others [outside the immediate family] that does not involve any financial or material compensation to the individual performing the service. 

    • Examples of types of service AHS students are currently performing are (but not limited to): assisting at Senior Centers; helping at soup kitchens, food pantries, hospitals, and/or PTO events; mentoring at Ashland elementary schools; participating in or organizing charity walks.  

    • Students may perform one single type of service, or many different types. 

    • Service requirements may be completed in one time period, or over extended time periods  (NOTE: Colleges favor consistent experiences that demonstrate a student’s commitment to a particular service).  

    GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS

    • Students must fill out in its entirety the Community Service Submission Form.

    • Hours must be reported within two months of completion. Hours completed during the summer must be submitted within two months of the start of the school year.

    • Students should try to consolidate [regular/patterned] hours from the same location onto one sheet (i.e., if you volunteer every Wednesday afternoon for two hours, rather than fill out four sheets with two hours each, perhaps put four week’s worth of hours on sheet and add them together for a total of 8 hours - this can be done in [up to] two-month increments)

    • Scan or photograph the sheet and send a copy to the Community Service Coordinator at AHScommunityservice@ashland.k12.ma.us.  

    • SUBJECT LINE FOR EMAIL should be simply CS YOG (e.g., CS 2022; CS 2023, etc.) There is no need to write any more than that in the subject line for submission of hours.  

    • FILE A COPY of your form.  All community service hours should be kept in a personal folder at home, in the event there is ever a question regarding hours served.  

    PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES AS YOU PLAN YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE 

    • Community service for which academic credit is given is not accepted.

    • Activities to help a family member are not accepted.

    • Community service performed through profit-making companies is not accepted (with the exception of hospitals and nursing homes).

    • Students may not be compensated for service hours.

    • Community service which is assigned by the Court is not accepted. 

    • Fundraising to support a student’s own activities (e.g., class or club activities) is not accepted.

    • Fundraising for charitable purposes is accepted.

    • Community service may not be associated with the practice or promotion of any religion.  Educational activities and non-religious activities which benefit the religious community or the community-at-large (e.g. teaching Sunday school or CCD - unless required for Confirmation, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, etc.;  unpaid babysitting during religious services; maintenance of buildings; clothing drives; youth group work with shelters or food pantries; mission trips [with community service goals]) are accepted.

    • Participation in youth groups is not accepted, unless it is the capacity of a leadership role in performing community service.

    • Participation or leadership in school-related activities that would otherwise be paid experience or participation in a team or group (e.g., manager for a team or club, time-keeping at sports events, equipment management, etc.) is not accepted, unless the activity specifically involves service and is identified as such by school administration.

    • Participation in a program that could lead to job opportunities, such as Counselor In Training (CIT), is not accepted. This opportunity is considered an example of leadership.

    • Charity walks (time spent walking) are accepted, providing the student raises money through pledges. Completing the 20-mile Walk for Hunger will earn a standard 10 hours.  Completing half of the Walk for Hunger will earn a standard 5 hours.  For the Relay For Life, only the hours spent walking the track are accepted, not hours spent sleeping or socializing.