Description:  Community service is defined as an activity or event in which students are involved in work that serves the community as supervised by an approved non-profit or government agency.  The act or event must have a direct, positive impact on the community.  In keeping with the Noble Way, students LEARN more about the community by becoming actively involved in it, HONOR the community by donating time and effort, and practice SELF-DISCIPLINE as they are accountable to the people they serve.

Requirement: In order to pass the community service graduation requirement, students are required to complete a minimum of 70 community service hours. A completion of 10 total hours of service with a 2-site minimum is required for promotion to sophomore year according to the benchmarks outlined below. All hours must be completed at approved sites or projects.

• Freshman Year First Semester CS Requirement: Students are required to serve at least 5 hours at any 1 or more approved site(s). Students must have their hours completed and paperwork submitted no later than Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 5 p.m.

• Freshman Year Second Semester CS Requirement: Students are required to serve at least 5 more hours to fulfill the 10 hour requirement. At this time students must have completed their hours at 2 or more approved sites. Students must have their hours completed and paperwork submitted no later than Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 5 pm.

Earning Service Hours Procedure:

Serve the hours. There are three ways students can earn community service toward the 70 hour requirement.

• Participate in a community service trip/event organized by a UIC teacher or staff member.
• Volunteer at a school-wide approved site.
• Volunteer at an individually approved site – a site that has not been approved for all UICCP students, but has been approved for the individual.
  

Complete the Community Service Documentation Form. These forms are located on the community service bulletin board or through the advisor.

Submit the Community Service Documentation Form to the main office by 5:00 pm the Wednesday following the date of the event. Failure to submit by this deadline will result in the hours being rejected. When a form is submitted, it will be stamped with the date received. This indicates that a form was received. It does not serve as verification for hours.

Volunteering at UICCP:  Students may volunteer at UICCP for community service credit so long as the service provided benefits the school community as a whole. The following are some examples of service students may provide at UICCP for community service credit:

• Helping at school wide events: ushering, set-up/clean-up, translating, decorating, serving guests at such events as sports games/meets, sports banquets, report-card pick-up, graduations, orientations, open houses, etc.

• Organizing/holding a fundraiser or other activity benefiting a charitable organization such as a food drive, toiletry drive for Red Cross, Dollar for Darfur, etc.

• Creating a town hall presentation outside of class time, as long as it is not done for a grade or extra credit.

• Tutoring or other student help so long as it is organized, structured, and supervised by a UICCP staff member.

• Serving as a sports team manager as long as no academic credit is awarded.

• Promoting UICCP to the public: elementary school visits, participation in video projects, interviews, etc.

Students may not receive community service credit for volunteer work you complete at UICCP if it does not benefit the school community as a whole. The following are examples of activities that, if performed at UICCP, would not earn community service credit:

• Grading papers for a teacher: tests, quizzes, homework, etc.
• Filing: papers, Collins portfolios, tests, etc.
• Organizing: bookshelves, books, supplies, closets, items for storage
• Room cleaning: white boards, desks, floors, windows, etc.
• Room decorating: bulletin boards, doors, walls, ceilings, etc.
• Errand running: picking up supplies, moving books, delivering a message, etc.
• Paperwork: copying, collating, stapling, hole punching, etc.
• Lesson preparation: creating PowerPoints, handouts, etc.

In rare circumstance, a staff member may receive permission for community service credit to be given to a student for performing any of these activities. However, under no circumstances will permission be granted within 7 days of a community service benchmark.

Volunteering at School-wide Approved Sites: UIC College Prep maintains a list of not-for-profit organizations at which all students are approved to volunteer for community service credit. Students may obtain a copy of this list from the community service bulletin board. In order to volunteer at one of these organizations, students should:

• Call the organization one week in advance to set up a time to volunteer.

• Ask for the contact person named on the approval list, and when talking to that person, introduce himself/herself as a UIC College Prep student and kindly ask if they have any volunteer opportunities available on an individual drop-in basis.

• If so, the student should schedule a time to volunteer and bring the Community Service Documentation Form for that contact person to sign.

Volunteering at Individually Approved Sites: If a student would like to volunteer at a non-profit organization that is not on the approved site list, he or she may get that site approved  by following these steps:

• Obtain Individual Site Pre-Approval Form from the advisor or the community service bulletin board to bring to the site.
  

• Give that form to the staff member at the site who will supervise your work and sign your CS forms.

• Once the form is complete, the student should return the form in a signed and sealed envelope, or have him/her fax it to UICCP attn. Ms. Dust.

• Give Ms. Dust one week to verify the information in the form.

• Wait for a letter from Ms. Dust notifying the student that he or she is approved to volunteer at that site.  If the student volunteers at the site before receiving approval, he or she risks not earning community service for the efforts.   

Note: Students will not receive community service credit for volunteering at a for-profit business or at any non-profit organization at which a family member of of the student works as a paid employee or volunteer. This is due to the potential for special treatment and/or conflicts of interest that might arise.

No Show Policy: When a student signs up for a community service project, he or she is making a promise. This is a promise to be somewhere at a certain time to help get a job done. If he or she fails to attend or fails to send a volunteer that place, the promise is broken.  Therefore, if a student fails to attend, he/she will earn a detention unless..
1. The student provides the community service contact with 24 hours notice – preferably more.
2. There is a family emergency that can be verified.
3. The student experiences a medical emergency or illness that required a doctor’s visit that can be verified with a doctor’s note.
4. The student finds a replacement.

Absences: If suspended or absent for any reason from school, any hours turned in that were performed during normal school hours WILL NOT be honored.

Failure:  Should a student fail the community service requirement for the semester, he or she will be required to pay a $140 registration fee for and complete a  community service course.  The required grade level hours of service from a successfully completed make-up class will be counted toward total hours.