Community Service
Asheville School’s community service program is dedicated to the support of our school mission statement, which includes an emphasis upon the importance of “community,” the “nurture of character” and the fostering of the spiritual side of the human experience. We have woven service into the fabric of the curriculum. While service has long been a tradition here, it has developed into a program that engages students and faculty members.
Third Form
Our Third Formers learn that service starts with a sense of stewardship within one’s own community. Third Formers work with older students and faculty members to improve the environment of our school community. We want our students to develop a sense of service to any group, community or organization of which they are a part.
Third Form Community Service (Stewardship)
- Two faculty leaders supervise and organize the seven teams.
- The seven teams are led and supervised directly by the Fifth and Sixth Form Proctors (two Proctors for each group).
- At various times Sixth Form Prefects aid the Third Form.
- Parents Association members may participate.
- Faculty members who have a particular area of interest may volunteer to participate in that area.
Fourth Form
We emphasize the next step of service – outreach - with our Fourth Formers. We ask them to choose from several school-sponsored activities beyond our campus borders. We ask them to consider the needs of the greater Asheville and Buncombe County metropolitan area and to experience outreach to those who have needs we can serve.
Fourth Form Community Service (Outreach)
- Two faculty members supervise and organize seven teams under the auspices of Mitchell Cabinet.
- The seven teams are led and supervised directly by the Sixth Form Prefects (two Prefects for each group).
- Parents Association members are encouraged to participate.
- Faculty members are asked to volunteer for activities of particular interest to them.
Fifth Form
Our Fifth Formers are asked to make a sustained commitment to a single endeavor over a significant time period. They are required to choose an independent project to which they will commit. We hope that this will help our upperclassmen learn that service is about taking personal initiative and exercising personal responsibility.
Fifth Form Community Service (In-depth Volunteerism)
- One faculty member organizes and administers this program.
- Between the end of their Fourth Form year and the start of their Sixth Form year, each student must commit to and accomplish the equivalent of 40 volunteer hours working on behalf of a single organization. Students are required to submit a proposed activity in writing to the program administrator for approval. Acceptable activities include working in a local soup kitchen, assisting in a retirement home, working for Habitat for Humanity, traveling abroad to work in an orphanage or for some recognized international aid agency or tutoring local children.
- Upon completion of the approved 40 hours, each student submits a 750-word essay about his or her volunteer experiences to an English teacher for a grade. That paper must receive at least a “B” before it will be submitted to the college office as part of the admission applications.
- Seniors are ineligible for college counseling services until the graded essay is received by the college office.
- Completion of this service element is a graduation requirement.
Sixth Form
Perhaps the ultimate test of our program comes in the Sixth Form year. For seniors, there is no service requirement except of our appointed student leaders. We hope that by this time, our Sixth Formers will volunteer for service because they have concluded that this is what responsible human beings do.
Sixth Form (Leadership and the ethics of service)
The Sixth Form is encouraged to participate in our community service program. With the exception of our Sixth Form Prefects and Proctors, there is no required participation.
Campus in Bloom - Communications Service Group
Notes & Dates
The Third and Fourth Form community service programs require close supervision by four assigned faculty members. Enthusiastic voluntary participation from the whole community, including parents, helps the program thrive.
The Third and Fourth Form service occurs on Tuesday Service Days no more than twice a month between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Service Tuesdays will not conflict with mountaineering activities. While there may be occasional athletic conflicts with service, we work hard to avoid those conflicts. An athlete will not be forced to miss an athletic contest for service.
