Service Program

List of 8 items.

  • SERVICE PROGRAM RATIONALE

    "The human person is the clearest reflection of God’s presence in the world; all of the Church’s work in pursuit of both justice and peace is designed to protect and promote the dignity of every person. For each person not only reflects God, but is the expression of God’s creative work and the meaning of Christ’s redemptive mystery.” –United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1983 pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace”

    By engaging in service to the community, SSA students develop not only gratitude for a multitude of personal blessings, but also insight into how their individual gifts make unique contributions to fulfilling the human dignity of all God's people.
  • SERVICE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

    The Academy believes that students experience the full richness of Christian service by undertaking a diversity of opportunities. We recommend that students satisfy their service requirements through a combination of 1) service to the school community; 2) service to the parish community and/or service to non-profit organizations in the community-at-large; and 3) service directly offered to the disadvantaged and marginalized.

    Each student's service plan should include direct service to those in need. If the student's service plan does not fit into the categories listed below, she must have her plan pre-approved by the Service Coordinator. Juniors and seniors also participate in class outreach days in service to the local community.
  • Examples of service to the school community

    • Helping the SSA technology department with special projects outside of school hours
    • Serving as a Student Guide for Open House
    • Organizing textbooks in the book room outside of school hours
    • Serving at Falaya Fling, including set-up and cleaning up post-event
    • Helping with SSA alumnae activities outside of school hours
    • Staffing athletic activities (collecting tickets, working concession stands, helping with sports camps)
    • Staffing Parent Club activities outside of school hours
    • Helping SSA teachers prepare classrooms outside of school hours
  • Examples of service to the parish/faith community or to non-profit organizations in the community-at-large

    • Vacation Bible School
    • Parish/church/art fairs
    • Wooden Boat Festival, Art in the Park, Chef Soiree, Monster Mash, Relay for Life
    • Liturgical ministries: singing in the choir, altar server, reader
    • After-care programs for children (non-profit only, e.g. babysitting for parish events)
    • Fund raising activities (non-profit only)
    • Races that are fund raisers for medical conditions
    • Preparation and/or delivery of Thanksgiving or Christmas Day dinners
    • Environmental non-profit projects
  • Examples of service directly offered to the poor and marginalized

    • Habitat for Humanity
    • Food Banks: Covington or The Samaritan Center
    • Caritas (working with disadvantaged pre-school children)
    • Nursing homes (non-family members)
    • Therapeutic horseback riding organizations
    • Special Olympics
    • Mission trips
    • Ozanam Inn or other soup kitchens and homeless shelters
    • Camps for children with disabilities
    • Lazarus House
    • Head Start Programs
    • Safe Harbor or other domestic violence outreaches
    • Animal shelters
    • Hospitals (direct service only; personal educational or training programs do not apply)
  • SERVICE PROGRAM FULFILLMENT CONSIDERATIONS

    SSA’s service program encourages students to give not just their time, but themselves. While it is indeed good to serve family and friends, these acts of service are our normal duty in relationships and the minimum responsibility of Christian charity. Under the same rationale, hours worked for any relative-owned, for-profit, or private agency do not apply. 

    Christian service should be a gift of self that reaches beyond convenience and the minimum requirements of personal relationships. There are dozens of worthy non-profit agencies and events that rely upon service for their survival. Students are invited to experience how serving in these ways can offer deep fulfillment. 
  • Examples of work that does not fulfill the service program requirements

    • Attending retreats or conferences
    • Political campaigning
    • Working in "for profit" institution or agencies
    • Babysitting (under most circumstances)
    When considering service for an individual or agency that is not a nonprofit organization (for example, serving a non-relative in a personal hardship), students must obtain pre-approval from the Service Coordinator. 
  • OTHER EXPECTATIONS

    1. Service hours performed for SSA clubs or organizations as part of that organization's membership duties will not be applied toward the service program requirement.
    2. Service hours are not cumulative. All students must fulfill the 20 hour requirement each year.
    3. Students who serve more than 50 hours during a school year will be recognized at the end of the year awards ceremony.
    4. Any student who completes an extensive, continuous service project, mission trip, or in-depth project of her own design may be exempted from the 20 hour requirement. These circumstances must be pre-approved by the Service Coordinator and must include substantial documentation.
    5. Service opportunities and contact information will be posted on Blackbaud and in the weekly SSA email. It is the student's responsibility (unless otherwise stated) to make the contact and arrangements for service events.
St. Scholastica Academy is a Catholic, all-girls, college-preparatory high school located in Covington, Louisiana. Founded in 1903, SSA perpetuates the Benedictine tradition of balancing prayer, work, study, and community in developing adolescent girls into Christian women grounded in the Gospel values of the Catholic faith. St. Scholastica Academy is a Catholic girls high school of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. As such it admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities available to students at its schools. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.