Service Hours Question

[Anonymous]

I have a kid in elementary. From what I've seen in our neighborhood, at some point (6th grade? Middle? HS?) the kids start having some sort of requirement to do service hours.

Can anyone shed light for me on what the service hour requirements are? Which grade(s) are they required in, and how many hours are required? Is this a graduation requirement, a class requirement, or what? Can volunteer hours logged in excess of a requirement for one year roll over into required hours for another year? Can volunteer hours from earlier in elementary school count? (My kid has a ton of hours logged through scouts).

I've found a "service learning" page on FCPS, but it's unclear to me if that's required or if it's just to get some sort of extra award. I'm not interested necessarily in whatever optional awards are, right now I'm just trying to figure out what are the things the kids are going to be *required* to do.

[Anonymous]

8th grade they will get a service hour requirement for Civics class (15 hours, but I think 5 are done in class), and potentially NVTHS service hours (10) if their grades are good and they join.
Hours are per year and do not roll over.

[Anonymous]

Also, you can't double dip your Civics service hours with your NVTHS service hours - so I'm not sure why so many people seem to take credit for scouts hours as school hours too. Seems like if scouts has a requirement then the hours you "volunteer" to make that requirement shouldn't count toward something else, but maybe most scouts go above and beyond and have extra to allocate to school service hours?

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the other kids do, but most of them just have their coaches sign off on their hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, you can't double dip your Civics service hours with your NVTHS service hours - so I'm not sure why so many people seem to take credit for scouts hours as school hours too. Seems like if scouts has a requirement then the hours you "volunteer" to make that requirement shouldn't count toward something else, but maybe most scouts go above and beyond and have extra to allocate to school service hours?

Interesting perspective. If someone does service hours through a youth group, would you also say that's double-dipping? What if someone volunteers through Brothers & Sisters of America? What if you volunteer through the county? Are all those double-dipping? If that's the case, I guess I'd struggle to figure out what would count at all for these civics hours. Tutoring other kids in civics and that's it?

Just because the service you do is organized by or benefits a community group, I'm not sure I'd see that as disqualifying.

[Anonymous]

My son is in 8th grade and I’ve heard nothing about service hours yet. My understanding is post-COVID this is no longer a thing except for the honor society students. Can anyone else confirm?

[Anonymous]

Honors Civics in 8th grade was the only time my 2023 grad was required to do service hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honors Civics in 8th grade was the only time my 2023 grad was required to do service hours.

Me again. I think he also had to do them for AP Government as a senior.

[Anonymous]

IB has them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors Civics in 8th grade was the only time my 2023 grad was required to do service hours.

Me again. I think he also had to do them for AP Government as a senior.

My 2025 grad did not have any required service hours for AP Gov last year. I don’t know if they are still required for 8th grade Civics because that was during COVID for my kid, so they were exempt that year (same reason my 2021 grad, who did do them in 8th, did not in Gov).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, you can't double dip your Civics service hours with your NVTHS service hours - so I'm not sure why so many people seem to take credit for scouts hours as school hours too. Seems like if scouts has a requirement then the hours you "volunteer" to make that requirement shouldn't count toward something else, but maybe most scouts go above and beyond and have extra to allocate to school service hours?

No, you cannot. The JNHS paperwork says that you cannot double dip. Service hours from all of MS count towards the 8th grade service hours. DS started entering his in 7th grade and was told by his Civics teacher that he was done, all hours entered in 7th grade. He will still enter his hours for this year after he has completed his JHNS.

Scout hour requirements for rank is something like 3-6 hours, dependent on the year. My son’s Troop does a lot more than that, which all Scouts are encouraged to participate in. Last year he had something like 30 service hours and he needed 6 for his rank requirement. He is a Life Scout now, he has no service hour requirements to earn Eagle. He volunteered 5.5 hours for Scouting for food this last week. He will volunteer to help with an Eagle project. He will help with a Christmas Angel tree program at the Church. He is helping with a tutoring and proctoring a math competition. That is what I know off the top of my head in the next month or so. It is nothing onerous but it helps others and it can add up quickly. I would say he is middle of the road for his service. There are plenty of Scouts who do what is required for rank and that is all. There are others who do a lot more, it depends on the kid.

Eagle candidates complete an Eagle project that includes a lot of service but there is no hour mandate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, you can't double dip your Civics service hours with your NVTHS service hours - so I'm not sure why so many people seem to take credit for scouts hours as school hours too. Seems like if scouts has a requirement then the hours you "volunteer" to make that requirement shouldn't count toward something else, but maybe most scouts go above and beyond and have extra to allocate to school service hours?

Interesting perspective. If someone does service hours through a youth group, would you also say that's double-dipping? What if someone volunteers through Brothers & Sisters of America? What if you volunteer through the county? Are all those double-dipping? If that's the case, I guess I'd struggle to figure out what would count at all for these civics hours. Tutoring other kids in civics and that's it?

Just because the service you do is organized by or benefits a community group, I'm not sure I'd see that as disqualifying.

Scouts ranks have hour requirements. I can see someone saying that three hours needed to earn rank maybe shouldn’t count as three hours that you need for school. I am not saying I agree or disagree, but I can see the argument.

[Anonymous]

To answer the OP’s question, none of these hours are required to graduate with an advanced diploma though are they? I thought it was only optional and if you do this you get an extra tassle for your graduation gown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer the OP’s question, none of these hours are required to graduate with an advanced diploma though are they? I thought it was only optional and if you do this you get an extra tassle for your graduation gown?

It is part of the grade for 8th grade Civics but that might only be for honors. I don’t know about HS. I do know that the advanced diploma means nothing so I wouldn’t worry about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer the OP’s question, none of these hours are required to graduate with an advanced diploma though are they? I thought it was only optional and if you do this you get an extra tassle for your graduation gown?

This is my understanding. I have a 2028 grad and we did not have to turn in any service hours in middle school, and he was in honors civics. They can track service hours in high school to earn an extra tassle/sticker on their diploma, but it is not required for an advanced diploma. I'm not sure if some specific classes have service requirements - we haven't run into that.