Service Achievement Program

Process & Timeline:

1.     ATTEND an information session about the program in late August and receive the program packet.

2.     APPLY by completing the application form by 9/11.

3.     SCHEDULE a 1-on-1 meeting with Rev. Holden by 10/1.

4.     LEARN about areas of need in the Houston area through completion of a self-paced Canvas curriculum by 11/1.

5.     TEACH our EHS community about Houston’s areas of need by working with other program participants to make a presentation in Chapel or design a Family Chapel event by 12/10.

6.     LEAD the planning, promoting, and implementation of an “EHS Day of Service” on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in January, working with Rev. Holden and a team of other program participants.

7.     SERVE/ENGAGE in multiple hours of volunteer service between June 1 and April 15 (see Eligible Service description below):

·At least 2 hours in each of six designated areas of need (hunger, homelessness, health, elder care, education, and the environment)
·Hours of service beyond that may be in the areas of need of your choice
·The number of hours beyond the 12-hour minimum determine the award level *

8.     TRACK those service hours though the Helper Helper app (introduced to the school in August).

9.     REFLECT on your service experiences in a service journal and share that with Rev. Holden by April 15.

*Assuming completion of all other requirements, the number of hours served beyond the 12-hour minimum (two hours in each of six designated areas of need: hunger, homelessness, health, elder care, education, and the environment) determines the level of Service Achievement recognition a student will receive at the end of the year at Awards Chapel.

·An additional 10 hours of service beyond the 12-hour minimum will qualify a student for a KNIGHTS IN SERVICE BRONZE AWARD

·An additional 20 hours of service beyond the 12-hour minimum will qualify a student for a KNIGHTS IN SERVICE SILVER AWARD

·An additional 30 hours of service beyond the 12-hour minimum will qualify a student for a KNIGHTS IN SERVICE GOLD AWARD

What Constitutes Eligible Service?

By definition: unpaid acts of volunteer service benefitting others, generally through a nonprofit service organization. Engagement in SOS projects is a great way to fulfill this. Examples could include:

·An SOS project, serving at the Nehemiah Center

·Volunteering in the EHS library through NHS

·2 hours of serving with your athletic team at the Beacon

·Verifiable work you may do with Scouts of America, a personal religious organization (synagogue, church, mosque), or other non-EHS service organization

Eligible Service does NOT include:

·Anything you are paid to do (like babysitting or mowing a lawn)

·School-required service hours like those for the Freshman Service Experience or Senior Outreach (but hours in fulfilment of requirements for voluntarily joined organizations may be eligible)

·Donating funds or items

·Individual acts of kindness like helping your neighbor clean out her garage

·Chores or acts of helping family members

The EHS Day of Service:

·WHEN: on the MLK Jr. Holiday (3^rd Monday in January)

·WHAT: a day of service honoring the civil rights leader’s life and legacy; “a day on, not a day off”

·WHO: coordinated & led by the students involved in the Service Achievement Program, as one of the requirements of the program, but offered as an all-school service opportunity

·SERVICE CONTENT: to be determined by the students in the Service Achievement Program. It could be an on-campus service event (like the Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed-building project) or an off-campus project (like a morning at the Houston Food Bank).