Jefferson Awards Students In Action
The Jefferson Awards: Savannah Arts Academy began participating in the Jefferson Awards Students In Action program in February of 2009. The purpose of this program is to recognize students for outstanding community service work and to inspire others to do the same.
The SAA Jefferson Awards team would like to help students to get more involved in service activities by providing information about various opportunities. They have begun an e-mail list that will be used to notify interested students about new community service opportunities as hey arise. Any student who is interested in being included ont his list should see or e-mail Mr. Corbett.
Nomination & Selection of Winners: Nominations will be accepted every two months during a two day window that will be announced in advance. The Jefferson Awards Team will meet to consider the nominations and will be giving a great deal of attention to the impact of the service, not just the number of hours performed. Two winners will be selected who will be recognized and awarded pins and certificates.
Nomination Form: Students/faculty members may download the Nomination Form at any time, but they will only be accepted during the two day window that will occur (and be announced) every two months.
Nomination Form
Jefferson Awards Team: The members of the SAA Jefferson Awards Team for the 2009-2010 school year are:
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Corbett
Student Leaders: Kristen Kelso, Tilly Isaacson, Catherine Mulligan, Jacob Awad
Student Committee: Lester Lee, Nicole Gale-Evans, Dyer Bowers, Taylor Grant
Community Service Requirements
As part of the agreement made between SAA students and SAA, each student is required to complete community service per school year.
Requirements Include:
- Ten (10) hours per year (no carry-over) must be performed.
- Service must be completed at a non-profit organization.
- Students can not get paid for their service time.
- Service must be completed outside the normal school hours.
- Chores done at home or in the neighborhood for individuals may not be used to satisfy requirements.
- The work performed must benefit the community.
Community Service Project Theme Paper Guidelines
When a student has completed the required hours of community service, he or she will write a three paragraph (minimum) theme paper of approximately 150 words. This theme paper will be submitted to the Advisement teacher for approval.
Once the theme paper is approved by the Advisement teacher, it will be filed in the student's permanent record folder.
Suggestions for Developing the Theme Paper
- Paragraph 1 - Describe what type of community service you performed. Tell where you performed your service.
- Paragraph 2 - Tell what you learned from this experience. Tell what a typical day was like for you at the community service site.
- Paragraph 3 - Summarize your community service experience. Comment on the value of your community service experience to your future plans.
Approved Organizations
Local organizations and agencies for which students can perform community service hours include:
- Adopt-a-Highway
- American Cancer Society, Relay for Life, Kidney Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis, etc.
- Ballet South (community outreach programs)
- Beautification projects
- Boy Scout or Girl Scout community service projects
- Chatham Association of Retarded Citizens
- Church youth group activities such as carnivals, helping the elderly, etc.
- Club Sponsored non-profit activities such as tutoring
- Department of Leisure Services
- Economic Opportunity Authority
- Fire Department
- First Call for Help
- Frank Callen’s Boys and Girls Club
- Goodwill Industries
- Greenbriar Children’s Center
- Habitat for Humanity
- Hands On Savannah
- Homeless Shelters or Inner-City Night Shelter
- Hope House
- Humane Society
- Jenkin’s Boys and Girls Club
- March of Dimes
- Museums
- Neighborhood Associations
- Oatland Island, Saturdays, Cane-grinding in November or Sheep to Shawl in March
- Open Arms
- Police Department
- Public Library
- Rape Crisis
- Red Cross
- SAFE Shelter
- Saint Mary’s Home
- Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce
- Savannah Association for the Blind
- Savannah Irish Festival (February)
- Savannah Speech and Hearing
- Savannah Tree Foundation
- Science Centers
- Scottish Games
- Senior Citizens of Savannah
- Summer Camp volunteer
- Second Harvest Food Bank
- Special Olympics
- Union Mission or soup kitchens
- United Way and United Way sponsored agencies
- Various community service agency boards
- Victim’s Witness
- YMCA
Anyone who would like to add a non-profit organization to our list can submit a copy of the group's 501c status documentation to one of the guidance counselors.
Unapproved Service Work:
Work that is done to benefit private citizens, for-profit businesses, and private organizations is not considered to be community service. Students who are unsure of the legitimacy of the service that they plan to perform are encouraged to check with one of the guidance counselors before performing the work.