Service Opportunities and Resources

List of 13 frequently asked questions.

• How many hours of community service do I need to complete in the Upper School?

  • Every Upper School student is required to complete twenty hours of community service per high school year. These hours accumulate over the years to reach the total required for graduation (so if a student earns more than 20 hours in a year, those excess hours will be applied to the following year). 
  • In order to receive senior privileges (car on campus and permission to go off campus during the school day) students must have fewer than 20 hours remaining as they enter their senior year. 
  • Additionally, all students must complete ONE reflection over the course of their high school years on a service experience that they have had. Details can be found further below on this Service Resource page. 
  • Students may start acquiring hours as soon as they complete 8^th grade.

• What sort of community service “counts?”

  • All hours that are not paid with any nonprofit organization (outside of St. Luke's School) will count. 
  • Any paid work, whether or not it is for a nonprofit, may NOT be applied toward this requirement.  
  • Any work with a for-profit organization or for St. Luke's may NOT be applied toward this requirement. 

  If you're wondering whether an organization is nonprofit, sites such as ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer can help you with that. 

• How do I access the MobileServe app?

  • You can either go to MobileServe.com or download the MobileServe app on your phone.
  • Sign in through Google using your SLS email address.

• What do I need to document my hours? 

  • When you document your hours, the app will ask you to fill in information about the number of hours worked, what you did, and the name and email address of your supervisor. You may also have the supervisor sign the verification on your phone, which is optional but helpful if the supervisor doesn't respond to the email verification.
    
  • The supervisor must be the person from the organization who oversaw your work at the site. Please do not put in the name of a teacher or parent unless they were directly involved in the activity. 
  • Give your supervisor the heads up that they're going to be receiving a verification email from MobileServe. That will prompt them to verify your work and then your hours will be recorded. 

• Can I record multiple days work at once?

  Sure. If you're volunteering regularly with an organization, you may choose to wait until you've worked several days and then record a lump sum. Just write the dates in the space where MobileServe says, "Tell your story" so that your supervisor knows the dates you're seeking approval for. 

• How do I find out about volunteer work?

  • There are frequently all-school community service activities at which you can earn hours.
  • Check with local organizations: rec departments, libraries, Emergency Medical Services, and fire departments have all been popular with our students. Some students also do volunteer work through their religious organization, scout troop, or National Charity League.
  • This page has many suggestions for volunteer work. In addition to the carousel of current opportunities at the top of the page, please scroll down to the Ongoing Opportunities for more ideas.
  • Please set up an appointment with Ms. Parker-Burgard in the Center for Leadership to meet with her and discuss your particular interests.

• Do I need to work with any specific organizations?

  • No, students are encouraged to use their passions and interests to find things that are meaningful.  Students may choose to do all of their hours with a single organization, or spread their hours among different projects. 

• What about volunteer work that I do at St. Luke's School?

  On-campus service is a meaningful way to support the school community and can help build a strong leadership resume. A central part of the service requirement is intended to get students to engage with nonprofits beyond the school community, so we do NOT grant service hours for volunteer work that serves St. Luke's School. The only exception to this rule is if the on-campus activity directly benefits a nonprofit, such as volunteering at the Special Olympics basketball tournament or a large on-campus fundraising activity for a nonprofit organization.

• What do I need to know about the Service Reflection?

  Students are required to devote 20 hours of their service to a single cause or organization. For example, they could volunteer 20 hours with a single homeless shelter, or they can distribute 20 hours of service among different organizations that help people who are housing insecure. That experience will become part of their Service Reflection, which is due anytime before Spring Break of senior year (it can be done as early as freshman year if the student has done the 20 hours). See the Community Service Reflection Requirement link in the Helpful Documents and Videos section below for more details on the writing.

• What is the purpose of the reflection and hourly service requirement in the Upper School? 

  This requirement helps students develop habits of reaching out beyond their communities. Through engaging with nonprofits, students explore their leadership strengths and start to develop empathy for people who have different experiences. 

• Should I continue documenting hours after I complete the requirement?

  • Yes, but once you’ve met the requirement you may put in the Director of the Center for Leadership as your supervisor. There is no need to have an outside supervisor sign off on them.

• Why should I continue documenting hours after completing the requirement?

  • If we know what you’re doing, you can be a resource for other students as they look for volunteer opportunities in certain fields.
  • Students find it helpful to have hours recorded as it becomes a resource for them when applying for summer jobs, scholarships and college.
  • We really like knowing what our students are doing in the community. It gives us a more complete picture of the student and of service at St. Luke's School.

• How about Middle School? Are they required to document hours? 

  No. In our middle school, students will be introduced to a variety of ways to serve both through curricular units in class as well as optional after-school opportunities. We're happy to support the individual service interests and efforts of our middle school students, but the responsibility of documenting required hours doesn't start until 9th grade.