Service Learning Graduation Requirements
Forty (40) hours of Service Learning are required of all Columbia High students as a prerequisite for graduation. Transfer students who have not accumulated service learning hours at other schools will be required to earn hours based on the number of years left until graduation. Transfer 9th Graders are required to have 40 hours, transfer 10th Graders are required to have 30 hours, transfer 11th graders are required to have 20 hours, and transfer 12th Graders are required to have a minimum of 10 hours.
Service Learning is defined as making a difference through actions of caring for others through personal contact, indirect service, or civic action, either in the school or in the community. It also includes offering time and energy to address a need without financial or material gain. The community service requirement is intended to help the students:
- develop a sense of pride in themselves and the community
- develop a sense of responsibility to the school and to the organizations they represent
- develop a sense of the individual's importance to the community
- develop abilities and talents while serving the community and school
Students are encouraged to begin their service learning hours in the seventh grade and to accumulate at least ten hours each year in grades seven through ten in order to achieve the required forty hours. A running total of service-learning hours completed in grades seven through twelve will be indicated on quarterly report cards. The sign-off forms will be maintained in the Student Services Office as the official record until graduation.
Please check in with student services to find out your updated number of service-learning hours along with the newest opportunities to get more hours!