- Gateway High
- Community/Volunteer Service
Community Service
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Community Service Requirements for Bright Futures
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Bright Futures Community Service/ Paid Work Hours
Students must earn either the required community service AND/OR paid work hours. Service hours/paid work hours must be completed with an agency, company, organization or business.
Scholarship
Community Service Hours Required
Paid Work Hours Required
Paid Work Hours or Combination of Paid Work/Community Service Hours
Florida Academic Scholarship (FAS)
100
100
100
Florida Medallion Scholarship (FMS)
75
100
100
Gold Seal Vocational (GSV)
30
100
100
Gold Seal CAPE (GSC)
30
100
100
Steps for documentation:
1. Contact the agency, company, organization or business of interest and develop a plan of action.
2. Complete the Bright Futures Community Service/Paid Work Proposal Form after developing a plan of action making certain to include all necessary signatures.
3. Submit the BF Community Service/Paid Work Proposal Form to the High School Counselor for approval.
4. Log the community service/paid work hours on the included log form. The agency, company, organization or business contact person or supervisor must sign this documentation after each logged entry.
5. Submit the completed Community Service/Paid Work Hours Log along with a written reflection letter to the High School Counselor.
6. The community service and/or paid work hours will be documented on the student’s official high school transcript and all documentation will be filed by the school counselor.
7. It is suggested students keep copies of completed Community Service/Paid Work Hours Logs for their own records. Students should also update their resume in Xello to reflect service hours.
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Helpful Tips
- Aim to complete 25 hours of community service each year of high school to have the 100 hours needed for the Bright Futures Academic Scholarship. Students can begin accruing Bright Futures Community Service hours the summer before 9th grade begins.
- Students can report paid work hours starting June 27, 2023 and beyond.
- Paid work hours require a pay stub for verification in addition to the log.
- Fewer hours are required for the Bright Futures Medallion and Gold Seal CAPE and Vocational Scholarships.
- Community service hours are not a requirement to graduate high school but can be helpful to students in discovering careers of interest, demonstrating leadership skills for resumes and scholarships, and most importantly, giving back to their community.
- Complete the Community Service/Paid Work Hours Plan and wait for approval prior to volunteering. These guidelines apply to community service hours reported on student transcripts used to verify Bright Futures eligibility.
- Turn in your hours per the guidelines listed above to your high school counselor.
- Community service/paid work hours are only one of the requirements for Bright Futures. To find out how to qualify for a Bright Futures Scholarship, go to https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/ to review the requirements.
NOTE:If you are an IB student, please note that you may turn in the Service hours you earn as part of your CAS project; however Creative and Action hours do not meet the standard of service as defined by the state. Contact your counselor for more information. -
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How to Document Community Service
Please provide the following:
- Who did the community service?
- What service was performed?
- When and where it occurred?
- Number of hours completed
- Signature of supervisor
Community Service: Please have the information on company / business letterhead.
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What are the requirements for community service?
- Students must perform volunteer services on their own time, which can include lunch breaks and after school.
- Service may be volunteered to the school and/or the community.
- Service may be performed for profit-making organizations ONLY if they are institutions like hospitals or nursing homes.
- Volunteer work for a religious or political organization will ONLY count as volunteer hours if, for example, your church youth group helps with the Special Olympics or the political organization promotes non-partisan activities, such as voter registration.
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What does NOT count towards community service?
- Service rendered as a prerequisite for employment.
- Service performed for a student's family, neighbors, or friends or for profit-making organizations.
- Attendance at self-improvement workshops, conferences, or competitions.
- Service performed a s result of disciplinary action taken by the school or courts.
- Participation in Varsity or Junior Varsity athletics, or regularly scheduled band or chorus performances.
- Common activities such as acolyte, altar server, lay reader, church choir and clerical work for religious organizations.
- Babysitting
- Any paid service
- Volunteer service work involving academic requirements for a class
*The above criteria will not cover all circumstances. If a question exists regarding the acceptance of an activity for volunteer service, the student's school counselor should approve the service prior to the student's participation.
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Possible Volunteer Opportunities in the Community
Please check Volunteermatch.org
- Advent Health
- Assisting Teachers at GHS
- Food Banks
- Gift for Teaching
- Girl/Boy Scouts
- Give Kids the World
- Heavenly Hooves
- Humane Society/Animal Shelter
- Kissimmee Little League
- Kissimmee Chamber of Commerce
- Mission Trips
- Nursing Homes
- Orlando Health Hospital (Osceola/Orange locations)
- Orlando Student Tutoring
Orlando Student Tutoring is a free online tutoring program run by a group of high school students at Lake Highland Prep. You can easily get service hours by tutoring students in subjects you are comfortable with. This is an excellent opportunity for you to get hours for Bright Futures in the comfort and safety of your home. Don't hesitate to sign up for a personal tutor if you also need academic help!
You can sign up here: https://www.orlandostudenttutoring.com/- Osceola Public Library
- Osceola Teen Court
Teen Court is a diversion program for first time juvenile offenders under Court Administration. Teen volunteers fill the roles of attorneys, court clerks and jurors. They listen to real cases and then the jurors, themselves, decide, within our guidelines, what the youth should be sentenced to, not if they are guilty or not. The jury is actually made up of volunteers and defendants serving part of their sentence. The youth/defendant has 5 weeks to complete the sanctions and if successful, the State Attorney dismisses the case.
- Red Cross
- Relay for Life
- School District of Osceola County Elementary and Middle Schools
- T.R.A.C.K. Center Inc (trackcenter.org)
Additional volunteer options available: Volunteering Oportunities
