Community Service

Community service is a non-paying job performed by a student for the benefit of the community or its institutions.

Since Paly is a public school, approved volunteer organizations are non-profits, not faith-based, not partisan and focus on providing a service to others in the greater community.

Volunteer hours do not necessarily equate to Community Service hours or Paly transcript hours.

Engaging in community service provides students with the opportunity to become active members of their community and has a lasting, positive impact on society at large. Community service enables students to acquire life skills and knowledge, as well as provide a service to those who need it most.

NOTE: There is not a "community service" graduation requirement. However, a few classes may assign community service as a part of their required coursework (e.g. Living Skills).

These guidelines clarify what types of volunteer hours count and do not count towards Paly Community Service.  Please familiarize yourself with these guidelines prior to performing volunteer hours.

Each Paly student has a HelperHelper account, which tracks their service hours. Please download HelperHelper from the App Store, GooglePlay or use the HelperHelper website. For the initial set up, use your school email address (first initial of first name, first initial of last name, and the last 5 digits of your student ID @pausd.us) and password (the last 5 digits of your student ID) to log in. Once you log in, you may start adding the community service hours you have completed. Be sure to include all community service hours you have previously completed as well as use HelperHelper to track community service hours going forward.

TIPS: Enter volunteer hours into HelperHelper as they are earned. Once entered, ensure your volunteer hours have been validated in HelperHelper by the volunteer organization (validated hours will be "green") no later than one week from the time you enter them.

NOTE: Request for validation emails sent to the volunteer organization will "expire" if not validated by the organization in a timely manner.

1. Enter all your hours in HelperHelper.
   • Do not use acronyms in your entry.
   • Enter a person’s name for Coordinator Name.
   • Be sure to enter a valid "Coordinator email" (preferred method) and/or "Coordinator Phone" (this should be a CELL phone number capable of receiving a text and have only 10-digits).
   • Use the "Message to Coordinator" field to document date ranges, actual volunteer activities and any other information that will clarify your hours for both the volunteer organization AND the Paly Community Service team. For entries that have hours that span more than one day, date ranges are required.
   • Verification email/text is automatically sent to the volunteer coordinator (Coordinator Name) for approval of hours.
2. In HelperHelper, verify that the community service hours have been approved by the volunteer organization (it may take several days for the organization to approve these hours).
3. If the student's community service hours have not been approved within a week of entering them in HelperHelper, follow-up with the volunteer organization to ensure they received the HelperHelper email to approve.
4. Once the Volunteer Organization has approved the volunteer hours, the Paly Community Service team will review the HelperHelper entry to ensure it adheres to the Paly Community Service guidelines and the volunteer activity is clearly explained, it will be verified. Only then will the volunteer hours be considered officially approved.
5. All entries that have not been approved within three (3) months of the "Start Date" (not "Recorded On" date) are considered "OLD". An entry that has not been approved within three (3) months will be deleted from the student's HelperHelper account.
6. If requesting a PVSA, complete the Google Form for the PVSA level the student is seeking during the submission period.

TIP: When submitting the Google Form, you may want to only use the minimum number of required hours for the level of PVSA you are seeking and "bank" the remaining hours for a future award.

President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) is offered by Paly in the Fall and Spring of each academic year. A Paly student may submit volunteer service hours each semester. The submission periods will be announced via Schoology and posted on this website.

To qualify for a PVSA, a student must have completed the required hours within any 12 month period for the award they are seeking (see award levels below).

To receive a PVSA from Paly, the community service hours must be performed during the student's Paly academic career, from the day after 8th grade promotion to the Spring submission period of their senior year.

Community service hours are recorded on senior transcripts, and will include hours approved through the beginning of Fall semester of their senior year.

Recipients will receive a personalized certificate, an official pin, and a congratulatory letter from the president of the United States.

Students may be awarded multiple President’s Volunteer Service Awards during their time at Paly.

The PVSA is a civil award issued to recognize individuals that achieve a certain number of volunteer hours within a 12 month period. Although there are multiple levels of this national award, Paly will only award the PVSA at the following levels:

Teen Award (<16 yrs old):

• Gold = 100+ hours

Young Adult Award (16 yrs and older):

• Bronze = 100 - 174 hours
• Silver =175 – 249 hours
• Gold = 250+ hours

In order for a student's volunteer hours to be recorded on their Senior-year transcript:

1. The community service hours must be performed during the student's Paly academic career, from the day after 8th grade promotion to the Fall of their senior year;
2. A student must have completed 100 (or more) volunteer hours during their Paly academic career; and
3. A student's community service hours must be entered on HelperHelper and APPROVED/VALIDATED. The student does not need to have received a PVSA in order for transcript hours to be recorded.

It is the student's responsibility to ensure all of their volunteer service entries in HelperHelper are recorded correctly and approved in a timely fashion (ideally within a few weeks).

1. Enter the hours into HelperHelper as soon as possible after you have volunteered.
2. Ensure the Coordinator name is correct and still works at the volunteer organization.
3. Ensure the Coordinator email is correct and entered accurately (email is the preferred method of contacting the organization and having the hours approved).
4. If including a telephone number (which is optional), ensure it is 10-digits and can receive text messages.
5. You may need to contact the organization directly, either by telephone or personal email, to gather and/or verify this information as well as notify the organization that they have volunteer hours to approve.
6. All entries that have not been approved within three (3) months of the "Start Date" (not "Recorded On" date) are considered "OLD". The Community Service Team will do its best to notify the student(s) who have outstanding, unapproved hours but it is ultimately the student's responsibility to monitor their HelperHelper account to ensure all hours are promptly approved. An entry that has not been approved within three (3) months will be deleted from the student's HelperHelper account.

Contact Karla Larson.