Student Service Hours

Service Hour Requirements

• Students in PreK–2nd grade need to complete 5 hours per year
• Students in 3rd – 5th grade need to complete 10 hours per year

Possible Activities

Some common, year-long St. Luke-based activities for the parish or school, such as altar serving and safety patrol, can count for 5 hours for each job per trimester of service.  If students attend the Advisory service days each trimester, that service counts as 4 hours toward the total. These hours are limited to get students to also help in the local community rather than just at school.

Some ideas for consideration:

• Help younger students within their sports organizations
• Assist elderly neighbors with chores
• Clean up trash at beaches or parks
• Help out a teacher after school
• Help set up or clean up at parish events
• Tutor a younger child in an academic subject outside of school hours

IF YOU ARE UNSURE IF AN ACTIVITY IS APPROPRIATE FOR SERVICE HOURS, PLEASE ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

• Does it benefit another human being who needs help?
• Am I giving part of myself to help someone else?
• Is the service part of my existing responsibilities to family or community or is this a unique opportunity to help someone I normally would not consider?
• Does it only benefit my school community or does it help the wider world?

Record and Reflect

Service hours should be recorded each trimester, including the activity, a tally of time spent, and a signature from an informed adult.  After completion at the end of the trimester, a reflection will be completed on the meaning of the service, including how it applies to Catholic Social Teaching, Scripture, and personal faith.

Service Hour Requirements

All MYP students are required to complete community service each trimester. 

•  6th-grade students complete 12 hours of service each trimester.
•  7th and 8th-grade students complete 15 hours of service each trimester.

The guidelines and expectations for completing service hours are shown below. The due date for service hour documentation will be shown in Toddle under Religion class assignments. Questions about service hours should be directed to the grade level religion teacher(s).

General Guidelines

Service completed for service hours:

• Provides service to a community you are part of, or someone in your life
• Is provided freely without expectation of payment, reward, or favors given in return
• Does not include regular chores or family obligations. 
  • Helping a family member or at a family event in a way that is outside of regular or routine chores/obligations is acceptable for service hours.  
  • For example: making your bed each morning is not service, but offering to wash your parent’s car could be service.

Service completed over the summer months can be applied to first trimester service hour expectations

• Summer begins the day after school concludes in June

In the 6th grade, student service hours may be completed completely within the school and parish community if preferred.

In the 7th grade, one part of student service hours needs to be completed outside of the school or parish in order to serve the wider community. 

• First trimester, 1 hour of service should be completed in the wider community. 
• Second trimester, 3 hours of service should be completed in the wider community. 
• Third trimester, 5 hours of service should be completed in the wider community.

In the 8th grade, students are expected to connect 7 or more hours of their 15 hours of community service to the Corporal Works of Mercy. This document offers suggestions for activities that are appropriate for middle school students and connect to a Corporal Work of Mercy.