Community Service/ Humanities Events

Community Service

The Importance of Community Service

Community service provides HISP students with opportunities to learn and grow through helping others. Serving one’s community fosters a sense of civic responsibility while expanding a student’s perspective about people and place. Through community service, students:

• Learn new skills.
• Build confidence.
• Develop compassion for others.
• Relate what they learn in school to the real world.
• Make the world a better place.

Community Service Requirements

HISP students are required to perform five hours of service each academic quarter. You may complete 10 hours during the summer and use these for fall semester.  See Community Service Opportunities for a listing of HISP-approved activities or check the HISP bulletin board for postings. Community service must be done through a public organization (non-profit), which would include school fairs and festivals and science competition judging, community fundraisers, park clean-ups, and organizations that help the homeless, for example. Volunteering at private athletic clubs does not count. If you are unsure if a particular event or activity qualifies as community service, check with your HISP social science teacher. Document your community service using the Community Service Report Form found on the “Forms” link on this page.  Take it with you for signature when you are volunteering! 

Community Service Report Forms must be submitted to your social science teacher by the end of each quarter.

Summer Community Service

During the summer, students may earn up to 10 service hours and apply those hours to the fall semester (first two quarters of the school year).

Humanities Events

All HISP students are required to attend three humanities events each quarter and to present their experience in their literature class. The following are some guidelines for what constitutes a humanities event (for our purposes) and a brief overview of the presentation. Each literature teacher will discuss these guidelines and provide specifics about the presentations in class. Please direct all questions to your literature teacher.

Purpose of Attending Humanities Events 

Attending Humanities Events exposes a person to the arts and to a variety of artistic expression. Education cannot happen just at school–it must go beyond the walls of the classroom. Watching a play being performed is quite a different experience than reading a play from a book. We want each student to broaden their horizons and to take advantage of what the humanities have to offer. We hope that each student will try a number of different experiences and gain an important glimpse into life beyond McClatchy.

What Is a Humanities Event?

When considering what counts as a Humanities Event and what doesn’t, the emphasis should be on three quality events which are connected to the Humanities, live, and which occur outside of what you do as a part of school. The humanities can be defined as the study of the human experience.  It includes such areas as: Literature, Poetry, Art, Photography, Theatre, Music, Dance, Film, Language, Philosophy, Religion, History, Archeology, and Politics.  A Humanities Event must be an official experience of the humanities.  For example:

• Performances of music, dance, drama, poetry recitation, and the like.  
• McClatchy performances (plays, musicals, concerts) are worth TWO events!  We want to support the arts at CKM.
• Visits to art galleries, museums, or historical places with guided tours 
• Sanctioned activities of the HISP Council (parents’ group)–we will provide you with as many options as we hear about throughout the year.
• Lectures which deal with the humanities (outside of school–not our classes), either 
• Church services/religious functions which are NOT part of your family’s regular religious activities 

What Is NOT a Humanities Event?

• Movies or TV shows pertaining to the arts.
• Listening to recorded music.
• Street musicians, musicians playing at a shopping mall, etc.
• Restaurants with ethnic food, music, and/or artwork displayed; or shopping mall arts and crafts shows.
• McClatchy Club Events (unless special arrangements are made) or events during the school day, including field trips.
• Zoos or aquariums.
• Sporting events, even if in a different country.

Proof of Attendance

You will be required to fill out the Humanities Event Proof of Attendance form.  This form will require you to include the name and date of each event you attended, and will have a place for a parent or guardian signature to verify. You can access the Proof of Attendance Form on the forms through the HISP website on the Forms link, found under Resources.

How will the Humanities Events be Graded?

The Humanities Events will be graded on a pass/fail basis. They are a minimum requirement to pass each HISP Literature course. Students must attend all humanities events, submit their signed proof of attendance form, and present their experience to their class to fulfill the requirement. 

Due Dates

Typically, Proof of Attendance forms are due one week before the end of the quarter. Your teacher will give you an exact date as the end of each quarter approaches.  Your teacher will also work with you to create a schedule of presentations.

Summer Events 

You may write about events that you attended during the summer for the first and second quarters. Third and fourth quarter events must be completed during the actual dates of the Spring Semester (February – June).

What Do I Need to Present About?

Your Literature teacher will go over details in class regarding the format and content of the presentations. In general, the goal of these presentations is to increase awareness of the variety of humanities in the world around us, to share our unique experiences with the humanities, and to inspire each other to become more involved in the humanities outside of school.