Service Learning Curriculum

Through their various service projects, we hope that the students grow in an understanding of stewardship and social responsibility and are helped to become aware of current ethical issues. With the right direction, our girls will continue to become community leaders with a real sense of the needs of the community. They will continue to make the world a better place because of the vitality and depth that they offer the world with the experiences and challenges placed before them here at Sion.

The service program has a well-developed academic/reflective component which helps the students:

*To be sensitized to the poor, the suffering, and the marginalized as real persons, not simply as statistics or abstractions;

*Develop a mature understanding of the Christian concepts of stewardship and social responsibility;

*Understand that direct service and systemic change are both necessary for the alleviation of suffering, poverty and injustice;

*Identify and understand the ethical issues in the situations in which they are involved;

*Gradually learn to do critical analysis through guided faith reflection and social analysis -- as a basis for leadership in systemic change.

In order to accomplish these goals, a first year student will begin to build a service portfolio. This portfolio will show how she has delved into various needs of her community, developed a social conscience and made a difference in the world around her. Service hours and reflection on their experiences are also required for various religion classes. Therefore, with the wide range of service opportunities available in the Kansas City area, Sion students over their four years will experience many different types of service work. This will lead up to individual in-depth senior service projects guided within the students' senior theology class, Living a Faith-Filled Life.

Upon graduation, a Sion student must have completed 100 hours of service work within the categories defined below. (See Category link for detailed explanations.) This is a great and valuable part of our students' growth and maturation!

• Immediate Communities: Learning to give back to your immediate community is an invaluable lesson. Helping Sion work towards its mission, as well as assisting at your former school, church, sports teams, Girl Scout/4H clubs and at summer camps can contribute to the well-being of your immediate communities.
  Up to 25 of the student’s 100 hours may be completed in this category.
  
• Practical Work: In this category, students give of their time and talents to benefit the suffering and needy in the local community through hands-on work at different social service organizations in the area. Service hours in this category might be: office work at a hospital, fundraising for a cause, organizing a food pantry, planning an event for a non-profit, etc.
  Up to 35 of the student’s 100 hours may be completed in this category.
  
• Working with Marginalized People: Recognizing that our hearts change when we meet and interact with real people who have real needs, the final service category asks you to work directly face-to-face with people who are marginalized and/or suffering. Service hours in this category might be: visiting elderly in a nursing home, working with the disabled, tutoring disadvantaged students, serving meals at a soup kitchen, working alongside the new owners of a Habitat for Humanity home, etc.
  At least 40 and up to 100 hours may be completed in this category.

ALL SERVICE HOURS MUST BE TURNED IN DURING THE SEMESTER IN WHICH THEY WERE COMPLETED IN ORDER FOR THEM TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT.

Service completed over the summer must be turned in by the end of first semester. Service completed over Christmas break must be turned in by the end of second semester. Senior Service Project hours will retain their due dates in second semester as determined by Mrs. Gaither.