8 Grade Voluntee"sm Project

Purpose: The purpose of this nal 8th Grade project is to give back to our community through the spirit and work of volunteerism at a local organization and to share your experience with others, spreading knowledge to others about the ways in which humankind can serve and be of service. Components: Volunteer Service Work, Journaling, Artistic, and Presentation, each work 10 points. Timeline: It is the students responsibility to meet all deadlines of this project on time. August 14th- Project introduced to parents, project guidelines and possible list of volunteerism opportunities available online (www.sondrareyeswaldorf.weebly.com), and handed out to parents who dont have access to internet. September 4rd-Project introduced to students. Volunteerism opportunities discussed, guidelines read and discussed September 18th-Organization chosen and conrmation letter handed in to Mrs. Reyes describing the organization, nature of work, and approximate days and hours the student will work for a total of 30 hours of service work to the community. ** 30 hours must be completed at one single organization. Student must bring a log sheet to track their hours. Each period of volunteerism must be signed by the students superior or advisor. Mrs. Reyes will expect to see student log sheets on the following check in days ** Check in DAY I-- Tuesday, October 8th, 10 hours must be complete, log sheet shown to Mrs. Reyes Check in DAY II-- Tuesday, November 5th, 25 hours must be complete, log sheet shown to Mrs Reyes Check in DAY III-- Friday, December 6th, 30 hours must be complete, log sheet shown to Mrs. Reyes Friday, December 13th-- Artistic and nal draft journaling portion of the project complete. The next week will be spent in practicing presentations for the community sharing. Community Sharing, week before holiday break, TBD

Components Explained I. Journaling- Student journals a paragraph or more about his/her thoughts, reactions, feelings regarding their experience. Journaling is very open ended, theres really not a right or wrong way to journal. Students may answer the following questions to help inspire their writing: How am I helping the community? Is this work challenging for me and why? Do I feel differently about the work and the organization after serving this organization for a period of time? Have I made a difference, even a small difference, in the lives of others? Did I learn something about myself I didnt know? Does volunteering make me feel compassionate, empathy for others, lucky? Are there similarities between me and the people I am helping? Journaling is to be complete by the 30 hour deadline (December 6th), peer and self edited, and if necessary (on different sheets of paper, messy) rewritten. Teacher will determine if work needs to be rewritten. Rewritten journaling portion is due on December 13th (one week after 30 hour deadline). II. Artistic Portion- Student will create an artistic piece which is reective of the type of work they were engaged in. Could be a poster board for use during their presentation, memory/scrapbook, video, painting, etc. This is due on December 13th, along with nal draft journaling Presentation- Student will share their experience in an oral presentation to the parents and community of Tamarack Waldorf School. The date of presentations is to be determined. It is not yet decided whether students will share their work with other classes, or be available for an open house during part of the school day.

III.

IV. Volunteerism- Student will work at one single organization of their choice, at a site where they may have previously volunteered before, which they are passionate about, interested in, and want to continue their relationship with. Or, the organization can be completely new! If the student volunteered over the summer, they may continue volunteering for that single organization and count those hours towards their total of 30 hours. If you (parent) feel that 30 hours is not workable for your family to complete by the December deadline, please speak with me BEFORE September 18th check in and I will work with you to work something out.