Service Programs

St. John Vianney High School is committed to practicing the Characteristics of Marianist Education, which include our dedication to educating our students for a commitment to service, justice and peace.

Pope Paul VI said, "if you want peace work for justice." We in the Vianney Family believe that in order to bring social and economic justice to the world, we must first teach our students the value of serving the less fortunate.

We also coordinate the Student Service Learning Program that requires each freshman and sophomore student to perform 20 hours of community service each year. Juniors have a two-week release time at the end of May for direct service to those in need. Service Immersion Trips are offered during spring break or summer. Recent trips have included Jamaica, Appalachia, New Orleans and Mexico.

Junior Social Service Project

St. John Vianney High School requires that Juniors participate in a Service Project during the second semester of their Junior year. It is a two-week service learning experience that addresses the Marianist calls to Educate for Service, Justice and Peace, Adaptation and Change and Formation in Faith. The purpose of the Social Service Project is to:

• offer opportunities that will broaden the awareness of the many needs in our immediate community
• recognize our call and our responsibility as baptized Christians to meet some of those needs
• put students in direct contact with people in need
• provide opportunities for students to use skills and knowledge they have learned in school, from each other and at home for the benefit of others
• promote a deepening of the student's faith and to become more aware of their dependence on the goodness of God, the example of Jesus and the grace of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in the lives of others
• challenge the students in ways they have not yet been challenged personally, spiritually and academically

 

Freshman and Sophomore Service

Freshmen and sophomores are required to perform 20 hours of service each year. The students may choose to do all 20 hours with one recognized service agency, or they may choose to divide their service hours between multiple agencies. If the students wish, five of their hours may be done in their local communities (parish, school or neighborhood).

While the students are encouraged to do extra service to their local communities and they may submit them for recognition of excessive service, only five local hours will count towards the initial 20 required hours. Because the purpose of these required service hours is to educate for the Characteristic of Marianist Education "Service, Justice and Peace," a minimum of 15 of the students' required hours must be done outside of their local communities. Those 15 hours must be performed to assist a population with which the students do not interact in their daily lives -- a population that is truly in need of God's justice.

By witnessing the needs of their fellow citizens, the students build an understanding of the plight of the working poor and of the need for the justice for all people, especially those about whom Jesus spoke when he preached, "What you do the least of my people, so you do unto me." (Mt 25:45) Through their service the students experience building the Kingdom of God on Earth.

• For their service hours, we recommend that Freshmen and Sophomores do their service with service agencies that assist the poor and vulnerable:
  
  
• Young children through a daycare, a camp, a library or a tutoring program
• The elderly through a community center or an assisted living facility
• The poor through a soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless shelter, urban beautification project, or community relief organization
• The physically or mentally challenged through a special school or an after-school activities program
• The sick or infirmed through a hospital, nursing home, long-term care home or a hospice

There are any number of options! By no means is this list exhaustive or restrictive. It is merely a place to start. Students should find a place and a population that inspires them to want to help. Students are encouraged to call any of the types of agencies listed above and to ask to speak to the agency's volunteer coordinator or to speak to Mr.Remiger if they are having trouble finding placement for their service project. There is a link on this page to agencies at which Griffins have performed their service in the past with lists of site volunteer coordinators.

Service hours must be recorded and submitted to the Campus Ministry on Social Service Project forms by the first day of school for the next academic year, which is to say that freshmen must have their hours submitted by the beginning of their sophomore year, and sophomores by the beginning of their junior year. Failure to comply with this policy will result in detentions, the inability to participate in any co-curriculars, and a failing grade for the "Christian Service" academic credit.