Community Service is a great way to express what you are passionate about.  Community service should be a gratifying service that helps disadvantaged pers or the community as a whole.  Participating in community service means you are not expecting or receiving payment or awards for your efforts.  We suggest students begin actively participating in community service by 9th grade.  Students should seek opportunities to share in meaningful work and experiences that they can grow from as they do the work.

Bright Futures requires a total of 100 community service hours to earn the Florida Academic Scholar designation. The Florida Medallion Scholar Award requires 75 community service hours while the Gold Seal Vocational Award requires 30 community service hours.

All community service hours must be documented. Documentation can be provided on letterhead from the agency where hours were performed or a district community service log may be provided.  Relatives are not allowed to sign off on community service hours. Documentation logs are available in the school guidance office and can also be found on the school and district website. Students should submit community service hours periodically rather than waiting until all are completed. The school records all hours and reports the total number to the state each semester. The school is not responsible for lost forms or undocumented hours needed for Bright Futures Scholarships.  Students can go to www.FACTS.org to monitor those hours.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Program has a CAS (Create, Action, and Service) Component geared towards community service. IB requires 150 hours be applied toward the designated areas. For more information, please go to the magnet programs tab on this website and search the IB requirements. Unlike Bright Futures, students are not permitted to start community service hours that count towards CAS until the junior year of high school. However, additional hours finished prior to 11th grade can apply towards Bright Futures and overall community service hours. 

Community service hours should be done in non-profit entities, such as:

• Action Groups like Breast Cancer Awareness, Autism, etc.
• Animal Shelters
• Habitat for Humanity
• Homeless Shelters
• Hospitals
• Libraries
• Meals on Wheels
• Research Labs
• Schools (tutoring, helping in classrooms on a regular basis, cleaning, etc)
• Soup Kitchens
• Training Seeing Eye Dogs
• Volunteering at Retirement Homes

Many clubs at the high school level have a community service component.

Students are highly encouraged to participate in their high school organizations and actively participate in extracurricular activities.