Volunteer Work

[Karenciavo]

What does your high schooler do? Everything my son does is through church, he plays bass for Sunday worship, goes on 1 or two missions trips a year, does service projects in the community about 4 times a year, and goes to our nursing home ministry about 4 or 5 times a year. These are things he's been doing since junior high and would continue doing whether it looked good on a transcript or not. Does he need to do something outside of church?

 

Thank you,

Karen

[readwithem]

These are things he's been doing since junior high and would continue doing whether it looked good on a transcript or not.

 

I think this is what colleges want to see. They can tell (in the student essay, interviews, recommendations) whether the student was excited and passionate about his/her ec's.

 

I've read so many times they want to see the student delve deep into a few things vs. doing a lot of things at the surface level.

 

If you're concerned about it looking like too many "church" things, you could word some it without the umbrella of church - the nursing home would be a good example of this.

 

ETA my junior dd's main service activity is ushering at a local Christian theatre - which she loves and would do regardless of how it looked on her transcript:)

[Kathleen in VA]

I think it may depend on the career path your son is planning on taking. Both my oldest sons participated in Civil Air Patrol. I think your son's list of activities is very impressive.

[Vicki]

My children have done a lot of volunteer work through the church, but have each done volunteer work at at least one other place. My oldest dd volunteered at the hospital, a horse therapy program, and a school. She really liked the school and one year volunteered over a 100 hours. She was named their volunteer of the year for that year. My middle ds volunteered at a museum, The Commemorative Air Force Museum. He worked a little over 40 hours there. My middle dd will start her volunteer work this year. She wants to volunteer at the hospital.

God bless,

Vicki

[hsmamainva]

My 12th grader does several things:

 

She is a buddy for the Little League Challengers team (which is baseball for special needs children)...she helps them to run the bases, and hit the ball, etc. -- two of our children have autism and are members of the team. She probably spends 3 hours a week, doing this, during baseball season, which is March through July. She does the same thing for the Special Olympics for basketball, which runs October through March....so at least once during the week, she's somewhere cheering!! :D

 

She works as a paid nursery worker at the church during Ladies' Bible Study, MOPS meetings, and homeschool group meetings (so it's not technically volunteer work as she earns $10 an hour)

 

She teaches music to her siblings, and anyone else who'd like to learn how to play an instrument (she plays the violin, flute, guitar, and piano)

 

She teaches Tae Kwon Do during the children's class, as she's a Red Belt and that has earned her the rank of Assistant Instructor (she isn't paid for this activity)

 

My 9th grader doesn't yet do any volunteer work -- but does play baseball and basketball for both the Little League Challengers and the Special Olympics.

[FloridaLisa]

Volunteer work is also important for scholarships, not solely admissions, so hopefully some who have jumped through hoops can elaborate. I believe, but am not 100% certain without looking it up, that our state Bright Futures program requires 100 hours of community service outside of a religious fellowship.

 

In any event, my oldest volunteered at the Mayo Clinic one year and last year participated in a cooking group at our co-op that raised money for a local homeless group. I'm suggesting (strongly encouraging/needling?) him to find an area he wants to pursue this year.

 

My 15-yo dd was also in the cooking group last year and will be volunteering as a county rep for a local statewide campaign this year.

 

As an aside, we've discovered that programs are hungry for student volunteers during the school year because most school kids cannot work the necessary hours. They love the flexibility that home education brings. Similarly, many volunteer opportunities are filled to the brim during the summer.

 

HTH!

Lisa

[anissarobert]

My 9th grader is applying to work at the local hospital. She is starting to work on the Congressional Medal Program and it will require 400 hours of community service during the next few years. This program does not allow religious volunteer work to be counted, so this will be in addition to any of that.

[Karenciavo]

Thanks everyone :001_smile: Right now he's leaning toward pastor, lawyer, or bass guitarist in a rock band. :001_rolleyes: I hadn't thought about looking at scholarship requirements. Good idea.

[Gwen in VA]

Mine are all involved with museums, museums, museums.....as costumed interpreters, docents...even as sewers making costumes!

 

Other activities --

 

fife and drum corps (lots of public service hours there)

CAP

 

I would just encourage your child to follow his passions.

[momee]

I recently contacted the recruitor for ROTC at our local university and they said for Air Force scholarships, they look specifically at LEADERSHIP experience.

 

One reason we are pursuing 4H. He'll have the opportunity to take an active role in the leadership of a group of youngsters under him.

 

I think you've gotten great responses, even caught a few ideas myself, but wanted to share this info with you for consideration.

[Deb in NZ]

My 16yod volunteers 2 hours / week at the SPCA & a morning (~4 hours) a month on a nearby island nature reserve. She's done this volunteering since she was 13yo. The Duke of Edinborough Award required 30 hours volunteer service over 6 months for each level. Dd has exceeded the requirements each year. Ds#1 is just beginning his DoE & we are looking at him volunteering in the local library an hour a week. Ds#2 goes with dd when she works at the reserve each month. All 3 dc help out at Kea Scouts, where I am a leader, when I need them.

 

Blessings,

[ClassicMom]

at church (but we don't have to put down that they are from church) that has soon to be six kids under the age of four. Yep. You read it right. And they live in a two bedroom apt.

 

It's a lot of good experience for her. She wants to work work with special needs children after she graduates so we will be looking for volunteer work in that direction in the future.

[Guest Katia]

My dd will be in 11th grade this year. In past years she has volunteered at the Humane Society, delivered Meals on Wheels, and played piano at nursing homes in the spring and at Christmas time.

 

This year, she will play piano at the nursing homes twice a month, and she has already been asked/scheduled to play piano at other community events (I'm sure more will call during the year), she will volunteer at the public library twice a week, and we'll see what else comes up. I'm not sure she'll have time for much more, but she loves to volunteer in our community so we try to stay open.

[MyThreeSons]

on a volunteer basis. They begin at 12yo, when they can ref the games for 8yo. AYSO has training sessions, and they're given uniforms.

[Kareni]

My teen has volunteered at the library since 7th grade. This past year she joined the newly formed Teen Advisory Board. She's also worked twice yearly at the postal food drive boxing donations as they arrive at the post office. In addition, she has made works of art which she has donated for sale for the Make Me a Miracle Foundation.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Peek a Boo]

we do a lot of community awareness WRT voting and local campaigns. Last year [8th] he helped go door to door to help the local homeschool dad get elected to the mayor's position. This spring we'll be taking a much more neutral role and focussing on voter registrations and candidates. i expect to see a lot of community service at the political level -- we are pretty vocal in local politics :D

 

4-H does offer a lot --he's serving as President of the new 4-H club this year as well as Team captain for the Food Challenge. There are other opps for community service too.

 

He was currently cast in the upcoming production of The King and I for the local community theater --that's gonna be fun [esp since he can't sing, lol! ;) ]

 

Our WHOLE family volunteers one hour a week at a local non-profit thrift store --organizing clothes, shelves, etc. Even my 2yo can help put stuff in boxes and pick up clothes off the floor.

 

He is in Boy Scouts and that has a lot of opportunities also.

[Guest kacifl]

My 9th grader put 1000 hours in last year. Our Humane Society desperately needs volunteer help. My dd ended up training the new volunteers. Sadly, as soon as they received their volunteer hours they stopped.

 

K

[Sandy in Indy]

This is a great year to volunteer for a political campaign.

 

One of the things ds is doing this fall is helping register people to vote. I'm sure he'll do other activities as well. Last presidential election, he and dd traveled to another state for 4 days to campaign. It was a great experience for them.

[ChrisN in NY]

What does your high schooler do? Everything my son does is through church, he plays bass for Sunday worship, goes on 1 or two missions trips a year, does service projects in the community about 4 times a year, and goes to our nursing home ministry about 4 or 5 times a year. These are things he's been doing since junior high and would continue doing whether it looked good on a transcript or not. Does he need to do something outside of church?

 

Thank you,

Karen

 

 

Karen,

 

I wouldn't think that you'd have to state that his volunteering is through church-organized ministries, but if you're looking for something else, others have provided good suggestions.

 

Another idea is to look for a local MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group in your area. My children (except the very oldest) all help with the children's classes (called Moppets); they're pretty much another pair of hands. My 2nd ds did this from age 11 through 16. The little boys LOVED him and the moms of boys loved that there weren't just girl helpers.

 

HTH!

[Andrea in Dutchess]

We're doing a lot of the same church related activities, plus volunteering at library.