Inderkum High School Senior Project Class of 2012

Begin by allotting no fewer than 40 hours over the next several months to do your work. 10 is for writing, 30 for your volunteer hours. You need to decide what type of service you will do, who could be your mentor, and when you will make time for researching and writing. It will take TIME to make all the phone calls and gather signatures for your proposal, so plan ahead. 1. Plan.

2. Choose to work as an individual or group. The student may do this project as an individual, with a partner, or in a group of between three and five members. Whether working alone or with a group, each individual must complete 30 individual hours of approved service. No group can be larger than five individuals.

3. Turn in your Proposal Form. DUE Friday, September 30, 2011 The student must select a community service project, as defined on the pages following. This is to be done in thirty hours of documented volunteer work. The work must be formally proposed, in writing by the student(s) involved, and approved by the coordinator (Mrs. Mathews). It will be documented in a log reviewed and dated by mentors and advisors. Students will have both an external mentor and an in-school certificated advisor appointed by the coordinator.

4. Serve and Complete Activity Log. Perform your 30 hours of community service, being careful to document all of your service times on the Sr. Project Activity log. Small increments of service over a longer period of time (i.e. two hours every week for ten weeks) is more effective for personal growth than large increments of service over a short period of time (i.e. fives hours each day for four days). ALL HOURS SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY FEBRUARY 5 TH.

5. Write Two Papers Each student must produce I-Search or We- Search work as a part of the process. These documents will include an individual research report with MLA documentation (1000 words) and an individual final reflection on the project (1000 words).

6. Compile a Portfolio Every group will have a portfolio which will include the following mandatory items: a short researched report, activity/service logs, self and peer evaluations, the original proposal, letters, the reflections, and a multi- media presentation. We are expecting that you will also add other items that are illustrative of everything your project involved (i.e. picture of work, flyers created, etc).

7. Create and Present your Multimedia Presentation. All students will do a final multi-media presentation of at least eight minutes duration on May 3rd before a panel of community members. See page 23 for detailed information about presentation length for groups.

Plan: Guidelines for Defining Community Service “Behavior that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere” ~ Beowulf The following guidelines should be considered when deciding what constitutes “community service” and what will be approved by the Sr. Project Coordinator

1. Service will be defined herein as a voluntary action the student does to help others, not something a student does for personal benefit. 2. Students may not receive payment for services. 3. Services may neither be performed for family members, nor for profit-making organizations. They must benefit the school or wider community.

4. Services must be performed on the students’ own time, may not serve as volunteer work for another obligation, and may not take place during school hours. 5. A fundraising activity is not considered community service unless the money is being collected for an approved non-profit charity. Raising funds for a field trip or any club activity, sport, or class purpose does not constitute community service.

6. Services performed due to disciplinary action, either taken by the courts or school personnel, are not considered community service for our purposes because they are mandated, not voluntary. 7. Students may select from a list of outside- authorized community agencies to plan a project not directly supervised by the school. In the case of in school-supervision, teachers and club sponsors must contact Mrs. Mathews for approval.

8. Belonging to a service club or organization does not constitute service. However, if the club performs service activities in the community or within the school beyond club meeting times, these activities may be counted as service. Projects must be exclusive of club meeting times to amass credit.

9. It is highly desirable that students plan projects that extend over a period of time. E.g., A regularly scheduled weekend or after school activity that spans ten weeks is preferable to a concentrated ten hours of work done over a holiday a break. 10. Any work done for a religious organization should be service oriented and should not primarily involve proselytizing.

11. Your service should be outside of your normal sphere of influence. Your project should build a bridge to the surrounding community. Thus, events related to your Senior Project should NOT be held on this campus. IHS is not your primary audience. 12. Any training necessary to participate in your chosen service does not count toward your actual service hours.