Service at Vianney

 

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.

St. John Vianney High School's Student Service Learning Program requires each freshman and sophomore student to perform 20 hours of community service each year. Juniors must complete 60 hours of service and 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.

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.

 We recommend that Freshmen and Sophomores perform service with agencies that assist the poor and vulnerable such as:

• 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
• Numerous projects that occur at the student's parish or church

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. 

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

Procedures for Recording Service

Service hours must be recorded and submitted to the HelperHelper App 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.

By witnessing the needs of their fellow citizens, our 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, students at St. John Vianney High School experience building the Kingdom of God on Earth.