Community Service

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

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).

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.

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.

Submission periods for the President’s Service Volunteer Award requests are accepted twice per year, once in the fall semester and again in the spring semester. These submission periods will be announced via Schoology and posted on this website.

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

1. Enter all your hours in HelperHelper. 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). Verification email/text is automatically sent to the volunteer coordinator for approval of hours.
2. Complete the Google Form for PVSA level the student is seeking during the submission period.
3. 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).
4. 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.

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.

Contact Karla Larson.