Community Service
COMMUNITY SERVICE TRACKING
Currently we will not be tracking community service. We continue to encourage and support safe community service and will update you with any changes .
Harmony Elementary PTO serves as a certifying organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award. We encourage all students at our school to participate in community service activities and track their time for recognition through this program.
What is Community Service?
Volunteer work done for free in order to give back to the community - local, regional, national, international.
Who should participate?
Everyone! Children of all ages can participate. You are never too young to start a lifelong habit of giving back to others in the community.
What is the President's Volunteer Service Award?
This program recognizes and celebrates students who record at least 26 hours of community service in a 12 month period. Harmony Elementary uses the tracking period of April 1 - March 31. Students who achieve the award are given a personalized certificate honoring their achievement, a congratulatory letter from the President and the official President's Service Award pin based on the following levels:
Ages 5-10 (age as of April 1, 2022)
Ages 11-15 (age as of April 1, 2022)
Students are asked to track their service hours using either a paper tracking form or by creating (for free) an online PVSA account through the Points of Light Foundation. Harmony Elementary will recognize all students who qualify for the President's Service Award and the students who participate in at least 10 hours of service at an all-school assembly at the end of the year.
The top four students (based on hours) from each Blue Valley School are also recognized in a district-wide ceremony held in May.
Blue Valley Schools that have at least 5% of their student body qualifying for the President's Volunteer Service Award will receive the designation of being a Blue Valley School of Service. Harmony Elementary proudly received this award for the 2016-2017 school year.
Encourage your children to participate - it is a wonderful goal and builds the habit of giving back to the community.
Do you have great ways to give back to the community? Please share them with
Though there are a number of activities that qualify a student for community service hours, it is sometimes difficult to determine if one particular activity will qualify or not. Below are some examples of activities that do and do not qualify. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
These activities DO QUALIFY!
These activities DO NOT QUALIFY:
Currently we will not be tracking community service. We continue to encourage and support safe community service and will update you with any changes .
Harmony Elementary PTO serves as a certifying organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award. We encourage all students at our school to participate in community service activities and track their time for recognition through this program.
What is Community Service?
Volunteer work done for free in order to give back to the community - local, regional, national, international.
Who should participate?
Everyone! Children of all ages can participate. You are never too young to start a lifelong habit of giving back to others in the community.
What is the President's Volunteer Service Award?
This program recognizes and celebrates students who record at least 26 hours of community service in a 12 month period. Harmony Elementary uses the tracking period of April 1 - March 31. Students who achieve the award are given a personalized certificate honoring their achievement, a congratulatory letter from the President and the official President's Service Award pin based on the following levels:
Ages 5-10 (age as of April 1, 2022)
- Bronze Award - 26-49 hours
- Silver Award - 50-74 hours
- Gold Award - 75+ hours
Ages 11-15 (age as of April 1, 2022)
- Bronze Award - 50-74 hours
- Silver Award - 75-99 hours
- Gold Award - 100+ hours
Students are asked to track their service hours using either a paper tracking form or by creating (for free) an online PVSA account through the Points of Light Foundation. Harmony Elementary will recognize all students who qualify for the President's Service Award and the students who participate in at least 10 hours of service at an all-school assembly at the end of the year.
The top four students (based on hours) from each Blue Valley School are also recognized in a district-wide ceremony held in May.
Blue Valley Schools that have at least 5% of their student body qualifying for the President's Volunteer Service Award will receive the designation of being a Blue Valley School of Service. Harmony Elementary proudly received this award for the 2016-2017 school year.
Encourage your children to participate - it is a wonderful goal and builds the habit of giving back to the community.
Do you have great ways to give back to the community? Please share them with
Though there are a number of activities that qualify a student for community service hours, it is sometimes difficult to determine if one particular activity will qualify or not. Below are some examples of activities that do and do not qualify. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
These activities DO QUALIFY!
- Clean up your community - The next time you go for a walk, take along a trash bag and pick up litter. This is a fun and easy way to make your neighborhood more beautiful.
- Decorate bags for Meals on Wheels - Each day, Johnson County Meals on Wheels delivers 600 meals to seniors in need. Cold items are packaged in lunch sacks. A decorated lunch bag can brighten the day of a senior. To arrange pick up of the bags to decorate or to get additional ideas for Meals on Wheels CLICK HERE.
- Performances that benefit the community - This would include fine arts, theatre and music performances (not rehearsals) for charity events, nursing homes, etc.
- Participating in fundraising events that benefit local organizations - This would include time spent selling Cub Scout coffee/cocoa, Girl Scout cookies, etc.
- Donate items to charity - The time spent to sort, organize and prepare items to donate can count toward the service hours.
- Fill the Harmony paper bin - Separate your paper items (magazines, newspapers...) from the other recycling and bring them to the Harmony "Paper Retriever" bin located in the lower parking lot instead of putting them in your curbside recycling bin. The paper still gets recycled and Harmony will make some extra money as a result of your effort.
- Participate in a fundraising activity - To qualify for hours, the student must be an active participant in the activity (i.e. walking/running in an event for charity), volunteering for a local 5K (KC RUNNING COMPANY), hosting a lemonade stand and donating the proceeds to a favorite charity, etc.
- Collect pop tabs for Ronald McDonald Home - Place them in a plastic bag (or anything that is easy to empty) and drop them off in the pop tab collection bin located at the bottom of the stairs leading to the HES cafeteria (by lost and found). These will be collected and given to the Ronald McDonald House. They sell the tabs to a local recycler and use the proceeds to further their mission.
- Make cards - Make thank you cards and take them to the local police station and fire station. Make get well cards for the children in a local hospital. Make thank you cards and arrange for them to be delivered to those service men and women in the military. Cards can also brighten the day of some seniors in a local nursing home.
- HARVESTERS - A regional food bank dedicated to feeding hungry people today and ending hunger tomorrow.
- Operation Breakthrough - A local organization dedicated to helping children in the area who are living in poverty. Though you must be 14 years old to volunteer at the site, there are other volunteer opportunities available for the younger age groups (they usually ask for young volunteers at their Jazz in the Woods event held every summer).
These activities DO NOT QUALIFY:
- Chores around the house - babysitting siblings, shoveling the driveway, picking up trash around the yard.
- Travel time - time spent to and from a service activity or donation center.
- Attendance - Simply attending a fundraising event will not qualify. You must be an active participant for the event to count (watching a 5K does not count but running/walking or volunteering in the 5K does).
- Personal enrichment activities - dance lessons, cheerleading, clubs.
- Belonging to an organization (Cub Scouts or Brownies) - However, if the student participates in a qualifying community service project as part of that group, then those hours could be counted.
- Rehearsal time - Time preparing for a performance cannot qualify for service hours. Only the active time performing will qualify.