x2VOL Blog: Tracking Service Hours at your School

Many secondary schools across the nation have been around for generations. Some are even over a century old. Their values and mission have been long established and so have many of their processes and procedures. 

When logging and recording service hours served by students, it's vital for admins to have confidence that the hours were completed as stated, not falsified and ultimately accurate. Not only does acceptance into clubs and groups depend on students completing a specific number of hours, but, many times, it's a graduation requirement, a class grade and can impact scholarships as well as college admissions. 

Summer is the perfect time of year to knock out community service hours and volunteer to make a difference in your community. There are so many different ways you can get involved and various organizations you can benefit with your time and service. Check out these summer service opportunities:

Students in schools around the country are serving their communities. The students at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate in Atlanta, Georgia, are no different. These students have a school requirement of 140 hours, but often go far beyond even the school requirement to log hundreds of hours of service to their community. 

The semester is coming to a close and will be over before you know it! Along with finals, graduation prep and standardized testing, it's also the time to wrap up organizing and reporting on your students' volunteer hours in x2VOL and start preparing for the fall. 

Get started now and get ahead of the game. Follow these x2VOL end of school year best practices and make your job and life that much easier. 

Every month we are highlighting a different school who's students are engaged and active in serving their communities. 

Going digital is an ongoing trend. Society has turned to the internet to do every day things such as paying bills online, shopping online, completing school work online or even tracking community service hours online. 

It's a topic that is always discussed - preventing falsification of service hours. Paper forms and physical signatures make falsification tempting to many students in public and private schools. We'd like to believe that it's a rare occurrence but many service leaders know who they need to double check. 

Students nationwide are spending their time serving their communities and volunteering for organizations they are passionate about. 

With the new school year underway, now is the time for students to start deciding which universities to apply to. Students may be wondering “How can I make my application stand-out from other applicants?” Leveraging community service experiences is a great way to stand out from the competition. It showcases the student’s leadership, compassion, and a commitment to making a positive impact. 

College admissions officers look at more than just grades and test scores when evaluating who they accept into their universities. They want to have an in-depth look of who the student is apart from the numbers behind their name. They want to know the student's personality, their interests, their passions and if they will be a positive addition to the university's campus life.  

College admissions officers are looking for: