Trinity High School
ACSI Region: Ohio River Valley
Location of School: Morgantown, WV
Program Objectives: (1) to increase the name recognition of Trinity High School in the community, (2) to increase student community involvement through service in the spirit of Christ, (3) to raise funds beyond the school’s tuition base, and (4) to involve students in running their own service organization
Summary of Program
We at Trinity High School wanted to increase the name recognition of our school in the community, increase student community involvement through service in the spirit of Christ, raise funds, and involve students in running their own service organization. In response to these objectives, we started the Students for Service Program.
The program operates on a simple concept. The general public can call a “hotline” to request that a student perform a service. The students check the hotline every day, and the jobs are posted on a board in the gym. Students check the board on a daily basis and sign up for the service opportunities, which are typically odd jobs such as painting, raking leaves, housecleaning, and shoveling snow. However, commercial businesses have hired the students to move storage boxes, clean rental property, and work on an assembly line at a printing facility. In the summer, students may even find a full-time summer job to raise money in support of the school.
The students elect their own student coordinators once a year. We currently have one senior and three juniors running the program. They rotate the answering machine responsibilities, and they use a field sheet to track student hours and job performance. Customers make payments to the school on a donation basis. If they are not satisfied with the work, they do not have to pay a fee.
Our program has been in effect for less than a year. The summertime is proving to be an effective time to involve students because they have more free time to work, but we have even had large jobs during the school year. Job performance evaluations from our customers have been excellent. Students have worked over 500 hours in the program, and we have raised over $5,000 in five months.
Parents of the student coordinators help guide the program, but for the most part the students run it. Students can apply the work time toward their mandatory community service hours, and this dual fulfillment adds to the program’s popularity with students. As the program grows, we hope to be able to provide students with full- or part-time summers jobs that pay income to both them and the school.
The job board in our gym has become a focal point of those who attend our sporting events, and handouts are available from a display on the board. In addition, we have used halftime at basketball games to recognize our students and the businesses that provide our school with fundraising and service opportunities. On the job board, we have a goal section that increases in $1,000 increments every time we cross a mark. All in all, our program is fun, but it requires much hard work. The largest benefits are the education and discipline our students receive as they serve in the program.
Students for Service 7.4