Community Service

Vision, Guidelines, and more

Why Community Service?

Community service provides students with the opportunity to become active members of their community and can have a lasting, positive, impact on society at large. It enables students to acquire life skills and knowledge; as well as provide a service to those who need it most. Students are encouraged to pursue areas of interest or passion projects based on their own values providing personal satisfaction and joy.
 
For our high school students, participating not only makes a difference to the organization and people being served, but also to the student. The intrinsic benefits of service aren’t always immediate and some of the most valuable skills a student can bring to any volunteer effort are compassion, an open mind, a willingness to do whatever is needed, and a positive attitude. Community service activities can also enhance student resumes by allowing students to obtain work-related skills prior to graduation, build good references for employers in regard to community involvement, and provides a forum to network with future potential employers.

For our middle school students, performing community service gives students the opportunity to see first-hand just how much their work can have an impact on the world. Many of our students at Seabury volunteer locally at food banks, animal shelters, retirement communities, and serving community meals, to name a few. They get to interact with people who have vastly different backgrounds and learn patience and empathy as they develop a global perspective.

Opportunities for Community Service Hours

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What: Midnight Farms' stop on the Kaw Valley Farm Tour
When: October 7-8, 9am-5pm each day (shifts 9a-1p and 12-5p)
Where: Midnight Farms, 2084 N 600 Rd, Baldwin City, KS 
Who: BSA students and their families are all welcome to volunteer. 
Description: Volunteers will direct parking traffic, monitor the KidZone, clean up and take trash out, monitor the petting pals area, and more.
Please contact Kourie at kouriekanaman@mygoodlife.org to sign up.

What: Green Pastures Preschool Fall Carnival
When: Saturday, October 14 from 5:00-7:00 pm
Where: Douglas Country Fairgrounds, 2120 Harper Street
Description: Green Pastures is a non-profit preschool run by a Seabury parent. Volunteers would help with things like painting faces, running the cake walk, and managing kids in the bounce house. 
Contact: Interested students should contact Day Beck at greenpasturespreschool@gmail.com or talk to Mme Buckner.

What: Enchanted Forest “Trail or Treat” Hike at Prairie Park Nature Center
When: Sunday, October 29 from 1:00-4:00 pm
Where: Prairie Park Nature Center 
Who: Volunteers 15+ years old 
Description: Set up crew (5-6 people): 9:30 - 11:30 am; Face painting crew (9-10 people): 12:30 - 4:15 pm; Refreshment table crew (3 people): 12:30 - 4:15 pm; Clean-up crew (5-6 people): 3:45 - 5:45 pm; Character crew (40-50 people): 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm                                                    If you are interested in doing Character Crew, the nature center has several costumes available, but we also LOVE for people to get creative and make/bring their own! If you’d like to bring a costume for a character that isn’t listed below, please run it by me and I’ll figure out how we can work it into one of our stations. While we don’t have specific costumes for them, it would be awesome to add in some modern fairytale characters like Elsa/Anna, Jasmine/Aladdin, Tiana, or any other Disney characters, etc. It is highly encouraged for all volunteers to wear costumes, and is required for character crew volunteers. All costumes must be family friendly.                             

If anyone you know might be interested in volunteering, please sign up at the following link, indicating your top three volunteer role preferences. If you are primarily interested in character crew, just let us know your top three costume choices, and we will try to accommodate that! We will let you know as soon as possible which role we have assigned you. SIGN UP HERE

What: Langston Hughes PTO Chess Club volunteer
When: The club meets on Thursdays from 3:50-4:30 pm; volunteers wouldn't need to commit to going every Thursday but would need to commit to some sort of schedule.
Where: Langston Hughes Elementary School library, 1101 George Williams Way
Description: The volunteer would be working with elementary students who are part of the PTO's chess club and helping them improve their game or generally helping them with chess. There will always be at least 2 adult volunteers present.
Contact: Interested volunteers can email PTO at langstonhughespto@gmail.com or email the club's chair, Patrick Dipman, at jpdipman@gmail.com.
 

What: Hillcrest Elementary PTO Volunteer Opportunities:
Hawkathon - Hillcrest Marathon Club happens every Wednesday in the fall and spring. Fall season is Sept. 13-Nov. 15. Volunteers are needed from 2:20-3:00 pm. Please email Day Beck at edayfreeze@yahoo.com for more information.
Fall Fling - Hillcrest Carnival. This is a one time event on Friday, Sept. 29. Volunteers are needed to set up, break down, and work stations at the event. Stations include the cake walk, face painting, games, working the food tables, and much more. For more information, please email Cody Howard at codyh@ku.edu.
Garden Committee - Help keep the Hillcrest grounds looking nice! If you would like to help with this beautifying group, please email Heather Sprague at heatherascanlon@gmail.com. 
Other events during the year that also need volunteers: Email our PTO directly at hillcreathawkspto@gmail.com. Some of the upcoming events are: Movie Night (Wednesday and Thursday night in the winter); Hawk Walk (annual walkathon fundraiser in the spring); International Potluck (spring); and Science Night (spring).
If you are more interested in working in the building and volunteering with students or teachers during the school day, please email Michelle Hindman at michelle.hindman@usd497.org. 

Who: DAISY Studios Inc. (a non-profit that provides financial assistance to increase access to the arts. Currently does that through scholarships to Dance Hues Studio.)
When: All KU football and basketball home games; dates listed in Signup Genius below
Where: David Booth Memorial Stadium or Allen Fieldhouse
Who: Students and adults who are at least 16 years old and able to work in food service
What: Work concessions at KU football and basketball games
Details: Must sign up at least one week prior to the date desired. Game times are TBA so report times are also TBA. Report times are 2-3 hours before game start time; workers generally stay until shortly after the game ends (5-7 hours total).
To sign up, use the Signup Genius HERE.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________