At Missouri Military Academy (MMA), service isn’t just a requirement, it’s a cornerstone of character development and leadership training. Every cadet is expected to serve their community as part of MMA’s mission to develop young men of "character, discipline, and leadership."
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Community service is deeply woven into the cadet experience at MMA, with students engaging in a wide range of volunteer projects each year. From tutoring peers and supporting local schools to working at food banks and veterans' homes, cadets are regularly out in the community making an impact. The Academy’s biannual Community Service Days, held each fall and spring, are a hallmark of this culture of service. On these days, all cadets and faculty dedicate themselves to service efforts across Mexico, Missouri, and surrounding areas, bringing the Academy’s core values to life. Through each of these efforts, cadets learn that leadership begins with accountability — being dependable, following through on commitments, and taking pride in representing MMA’s values wherever they serve.
"Our cadets are expected to serve both their community and their peers as part of their personal development and preparation for life beyond the academy."
- Elizabeth Clement, Academic Dean, Missouri Military Academy
Before implementing x2VOL, MMA faced several obstacles in managing its growing community service program:
Manual tracking through paper forms and spreadsheets led to incomplete or delayed submissions
Verifying hours across multiple grade levels was time-consuming and inconsistent
Faculty spent excessive time cross-checking logs and following up with cadets
MMA sought out a service tracking platform to better equip their cadets and their staff to manage a robust service program that was responsible to championing the academy's core values. The academy saw vast improvements across the board:
Cadets can now...
"The platform reinforces accountability - cadets take ownership of their community service records, understand expectations, and meet deadlines independently."
- Elizabeth Clement, Academic Dean, Missouri Military Academy
Academy leadership can now...
"x2VOL does more than simplify tracking - it creates a space for reflection, accountability, and celebration of cadet impact."
- Elizabeth Clement, Academic Dean, Missouri Military Academy
By aligning digital tracking with MMA’s culture of accountability, x2VOL ensures every cadet learns that leadership requires follow-through, transparency, and self-discipline.
Student Character Development
A key tenant of MMA is developing the whole student, from academics to personal growth, leadership, and responsibility. Service helps students do just that. And x2VOL helps reinforce these tenants by providing a unified system for tracking and managing service hours, experiences, and service reflections. Through service, academy leaders see students developing:
They note that their students have experienced a lot of personal growth and through service learned the importance of:
x2VOL's unique reflection feature ensures students have the ability to pause and process their experiences. Cadets can recognize the impact of their work not only on the world around them, but the impact on themselves as well. Service is a proven tool to find belonging, personal understanding and meaning, and cadets get to experience the personal growth that comes through service and service-learning. This reflection process strengthens personal accountability — cadets must evaluate their own actions, effort, and leadership, connecting service outcomes directly to their own choices and commitments.
"These experiences bridge character education with academic achievement, fulfilling MMA's holistic '360° Education' model."
- Elizabeth Clement, Academic Dean, Missouri Military Academy
A bi-annual day of service
During MMA’s biannual Community Service Days, cadets and faculty come together to make a meaningful impact through hands-on service projects across the community. One group, led by art teacher Cheryl Morris, created port pillows, comfort bears, and chemo infusion bag handle pillows for Missouri Cancer Associates. These efforts combined the cadets' compassion, creativity, and skills. Other cadets volunteered at local shelters, schools, parks, and homes, offering help where it was needed most. Cadets were given the opportunity to take ownership of each project, demonstrating responsibility, pride, and discipline throughout their service. Every cadet understands that accountability extends beyond the classroom — it’s about showing up, leading by example, and finishing strong in every act of service.
"Watching our cadets lead these efforts with pride and discipline is a powerful reminder of how service develops the kind of character, initiative, and sense of responsibility that MMA seeks to instill in every cadet."
- Elizabeth Clement, Academic Dean, Missouri Military Academy
By embedding service deeper into the MMA experience and utilizing x2VOL to support that growth, the Academy is preparing cadets not just for graduation, but for meaningful lives as servant-leaders, equipped with the character and confidence to make a difference in the world around them. x2VOL will continue to be their partner in service and a resource to ensure cadets have ownership over their service experiences and that leadership can facilitate a culture of service without the administrative burdens that come with leading a robust program.
As MMA continues to uphold its mission, personal accountability remains at the heart of every cadet’s journey — empowering them to lead with integrity, act with purpose, and serve with honor.
"When service becomes part of a school's culture, not just a requirement, students begin to see themselves as leaders in their communities."
- Elizabeth Clement, Academic Dean, Missouri Military Academy