Community Service
Community Service is defined as unpaid work performed by a person or group of people to address a social issue in the community. It is often completed near the area where you live, so your own community benefits from your work. This requires students to look beyond themselves and address an issue faced by our society (i.e. poverty, abuse, elderly citizen rights, and people with disabilities' rights). Community Service is important for the following reasons:
- Helps you become more involved with your community and enhances your growth as an individual.
- Although not a high school graduation requirement, colleges, and universities favor applicants who have demonstrated connectedness within their community.
- Some scholarships, such as the Bright Futures Scholarship, require community service hours as part of their qualification (see below).
OCPS and Olympia accept community service hours from summer prior to entering Grade 9 (starts the last day after Grade 8) through the last day of Grade 12 in high school.
Click Here to Download the New Community Service Form
Bright Futures
Bright Futures Scholarship Information
https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/
Students have the opportunity to earn a Bright Futures Scholarship for college in one of the following three categories below. Students apply during their senior year of high school. More information regarding the Bright Futures Scholarships can be found on our College and Career Tab; however, the required amount of community service hours for each scholarship is listed below.
Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) – Requires 100 hours of community service
Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) – Requires 75 hours of community service
Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) – Requires 30 hours of community service
How do I start?
There are three important steps you must complete for community service.
- Determine an area/topic in the community where you would like to make an impact.
- Research the types of volunteer activities available in your community.
- Contact the organization with whom you are interested in volunteering and determine
- 1) the steps to become a volunteer,
- 2) if they have volunteer openings for the dates/activities you are interested in,
- 3) who the contact will be to verify your hours and participation in the activity. Note: Supervisors must be non-family member with organization who directly supervises the student during the activity outside of the home.
- If you have a question regarding whether the service activity is acceptable, reach out to your school counselor or school community service hours designee.
Once your project is complete, you must submit the Community Service Log and Reflection in order for your hours to be recorded. You MUST have prior authorization to begin a project before you can accumulate hours.
Community Service Plan Ideas:
Community Service is defined as identifying a social issue in the community. This requires students to look beyond themselves and reach out to an issue faced by our society (i.e. poverty, abuse, elderly citizen rights).
What hours cannot be counted?
Olympia High School Service Hour Opportunities
The below organizations are available within our community to complete your service hours. This list is provided for your convenience. The school district neither endorses, guarantees, nor makes any representation regarding the listed agencies; parents, guardians, and students are strongly encouraged to investigate the agencies to make their own personal decisions regarding the site. If your proposed organization is not listed below, you may still submit your proposal to your counselor for review.