Service Learning

Phoenix Families,

Teaching students to live a life of service in Christ is an essential part of the Catholic charism of our school. In light of this, each student in Saint Therese Academy’s high school will be required to complete 20 hours of community service per school year. The goal of our service learning program is to inflame in our students the love of service and the joy of seeing their actions benefit others. To count toward the 20 hours of service an activity must meet certain requirements:

• The service must be done outside of class hours.
• The Service must be don’t for a non-profit organization,
  • Examples would be a church, a school, a charitable organization, or a foundation
• Service must be unpaid
• The Student must return a signed STA service form or a letter from their service coordinator (supervisor form the non-profit organization) for any service done.
• Hours that the students acquire are cumulative, meaning, for example, if they do 40 hours of service over the summer, they have reached their goal for two years.
• All Service Hours are due by April 6th
• If a student does not achieve the hours required of them, they will lose one letter grade in religion for the year.

Being a school for exceptional learners, we are aware that accommodations may need to be made that take into account either a student or a family’s unique situation. Such accommodations, (which may include types and manner of service and/or reduction in the number of hours required) will be judged and ascribed by the religion teacher and/or administration.

It is important to stress that it is not our aim to have the penalty of losing a letter grade in religion to be the motivation our students rely on. Rather the ideal would be a motivation of desire for service. If you want to discuss with your child “why” such service is valuable there are two easy options. First you may want to discuss how personal commitment to service builds virtue and habituates us to charity. You and your child can discuss what this means using the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s discussion of virtues. Second, the social justice tradition of the Catholic Church teaches us that we must engage in society to make the world a better place to live and a better environment for coming to know Christ. By using the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching outlined by the USCCB, you can discuss with your child how they can seek to make the world a better place and explore with them possible options for service projects that will engage their interest.

If you have any question about our service learning program please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Blanco ([email protected]), Mr. Garside ([email protected]), or Mr. Tresch ([email protected]).

Thank you for joining us in helping your child view the world as an opportunity for service.