Students folding U.S. flag

COMMUNITY SERVICE: LEARNING BY GIVING OF SELF

Real-World Volunteer Service

Students learn the value of service before self through hands-on volunteer work in the local community and around the world. They get off campus and get out of their comfort zone, gaining new perspectives as they give their time and talent.

Students volunteering

Dedicated and Encouraged To Serving Others

Though weekend free time is precious, St. John’s Northwestern students willingly head out into the community to serve food to the homeless, help at charity fundraisers, and lend a hand where one is needed. Community service introduces students to a different environment where they can see their own power to make a difference. Many students find this so rewarding that they accumulate hundreds of hours of community service.

Our school’s dedication to selfless service is evident in our Community Service Record for the current 2021-2022 school year. Our students completed 7,483.5 hours of community service and we saw a 32% increase in cumulative community service hours overall. From 2009-2021, 50% of our graduates accumulated between 13-68 hours of community service over the course of their four years with us. While many students across the state complete various community service tasks, our students believe that the components in our Academies’ mission and vision directly influence our school’s high level of participation in volunteer events and activities.

Students cleaning river

Ample Opportunities, On and Off Campus

As part of our experiential learning approach, many courses at St. John’s Northwestern build in service learning. For example, students may participate in the Water Action Volunteer program as part of a science class.

“Opportunities to help our school’s larger community allows students to be in situations where they can perform various ways of leadership that we have learned throughout our time at the Academy. Any new situation that a student faces allows them to learn how we can apply ourselves, expanding well beyond leadership and more into our personal beliefs and what drives us to help and serve others. The Academy values set the example and standards for where we should start in terms of understanding leadership and building our foundation of selflessness.” – Thienracha Weeks, Class of 2022

Service Learning Ties It All Together

Our school intentionally infuses service learning through all aspects of student life – in and outside of the classroom – on our campus and provides them multiple service-learning opportunities to demonstrate their leadership. They are intrinsically motivated to volunteer for service opportunities and in turn, their character education is inseparably linked to service, the betterment of others, and the development of their moral and ethical compass.

Our Global Service Learning program is a multidisciplinary course that can include content from social studies, religious studies, and the JROTC service learning model. The course culminates in a mission trip where students experience a new environment while volunteering in locations such as Haiti and Costa Rica.