RCMS students have started to learn about the service hours they need to complete by the end of eighth grade. 

According to Fairfax County Public Schools, “Service hours are a good way to get students involved in their community and develop a desire to become a lifelong volunteer.”

National Junior Honors Society students need to complete 25 hours of service. All other students will need to complete at least 15 hours. The total number of hours will appear in eighth grade, but students can start earning hours in seventh grade.

To get service hours, students must do an activity that provides a benefit to the whole community.

There are many ways to get service hours such as helping at a food bank, helping a religious or political organization, coaching/mentoring kids, and many more. However, there are lots of things that do not that qualify as service hours that students need to be careful about in order to get credit. Some things that do not qualify are bringing in supplies for your teacher, doing someone a personal favor, founding or participating in a non-service oriented club, grading papers and doing chores or housework.

Students need to make sure to keep track of what they did, who they did it for, and to get their history/civics teacher’s approval. When the student completes some of their service hours, they have to log into X2vol to record what they achieved. They must record it within a week of completing the service. Otherwise, their work won’t count. To access X2vol, go to blackboard and click on Naviance. The student’s eighth grade civics teacher will verify it, so if they are a seventh grader, their hours will get verified next year.

Students who want to participate in or are part of the National Junior Honor Society will be required to do 25 service hours instead of the usual 15. If any student has a question, they can contact their history/civics teacher for more information.