How does Project T.A.L.E.S. work?
Members of Waterford-Halfmoon's chapter of the National Honor Society are required to participate in two different types of service. The first is a group service project in which all members participate. The second is an individual service project chosen by each student and is done on his or her own. Our group service project is to tutor other students in the cafeteria on Monday-Thursday evenings at Homework Club. The officers of the honor society will be in charge of organizing this, and everyone is required to donate ten hours to this project. Usually honor society members sign up to work in pairs. Sometimes students sign up to be tutored; others just walk in. If no one shows up to be tutored, the honor society members are free to work on their own assignments as long as they stay in the library for the time they agreed to be there. The tutoring begins September 13 and stops in early June.
How do I go about getting my individual service hours approved?
In addition to the group tutoring service project described above, each honor society member is also required to complete twenty hours of service on his or her own. The first ten of those twenty hours (total) needs to be completed by the end of the first semester (see the advisor(s) if you are unsure), and the remaining ten need to be completed by the last official class day in June (before Regents week.)
What if I don't complete my ten hours of service by the January deadline?
If the verification is late and/or if the hours can not be verified, the student will be put on probation. If the student’s work is not complete by the probationary deadline, the student can be disciplined by the Faculty Council or lose his or her membership in the honor society. The chapter advisor will contact any student who has not fulfilled all of the service requirements for membership (including but not limited to tardy filing, inadequate hours and/or unverifiable hours) and will give that student the option to set a date and time for him or her to meet with the Faculty Council to explain the failure to comply. The Faculty Council will then determine what if any sanctions or extra responsibilities that student will have to bear in order to keep his or her membership in the honor society. Failure to comply with the decision of the Faculty Selection Committee in all respects will result in loss of membership in the honor society. If you lose your membership, you will not be recognized as a member of the honor society at graduation.
When must I turn in my proposal(s)?
By the last day of September, you need to give a typed proposal for your first ten service hours to the advisor(s). On the proposal, you need to explain what you will be doing, the names of an adult who will be answerable for your hours, a phone number for that adult, and an e-mail address for that adult if possible. Before you submit the proposal, make sure that the adult understands that the advisor(s) will be contacting him or her for verification, and that if your hours are not verified in a timely fashion that you can lose your membership in the honor society. You will find the form for the service hours proposals in homeroom, or you may print the form by clicking on the ISP Proposal Form on the Honor Society home page.
What is not going to be accepted as service this year?
Not all proposals will necessarily be accepted. For example, working at your job (or another place of business) for free is not community service unless that job clearly benefits the larger community. Community service that you have to do for a class, service hours that are required by another organization, or service hours that are part of a project for which you will receive school credit are also not acceptable for this purpose. (Hours that go above and beyond what was required for a class, project, or other organization, however, can qualify.) Also, the service must be something that is clearly likely to happen. Proposals that appear to be vague or unlikely will be returned to the student.
Who can verify my hours?
Only adults may verify service hours, not fellow students or other legal minors. Be aware that one of the goals here is to encourage the honor society members to interact with the larger community. The Faculty Council also wants to protect the integrity of the system. Therefore, service hours may not be verified by a family member or by a friend of the family.
What if my service idea is not approved?
The advisor(s) will explain to you what the problem is and will give you a second deadline by which to submit a second proposal.
What if my service project doesn't work out and I need to do something different?
You must see the advisor(s), submit a new proposal and have the new service project approved. You may not simply substitute a new service activity on your own. If you do, those hours will not be credited toward your requirement and you can lose your membership.
What if I'm already doing community service? Can I just continue doing it?
You probably can, as long as it complies with the guidelines for approval. You still need to write up a proposal and submit it, and you will still need to document the twenty hours that everyone else has to document. Hours that you performed before the proposal is approved will not be counted toward your twenty hours.
What should I do after I've completed my first twenty hours of service?
Before the end of the first semester, you must submit verification of your first ten hours of service. Complete the form provided on the Honor Society home page (called ISP Proposal Form) and turn it in on time to the chapter advisor(s).
What about the last ten hours of individual service hours?
Many students simply continue in the same capacity as they did for the first ten hours, which is fine. If you want to do something different, you need to go through the same proposal process that you went through for the first semester. In either case, you must perform at least ten hours of service between January and June: you may not complete your service hours entirely in the fall.