Community is so important to us that we made IT our middle name.
WE BELIEVE THAT OUR SCHOOL’S STRENGTH IS SHOWN BY ITS CONNECTION WITH THE COMMUNITY AROUND IT.
GWCS STUDENT INFO
community service
expectations and forms
for Current Students
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Helping the community also helps our students---it develops leadership qualities, shapes social awareness, and generates civic responsibility. Students volunteer in local, national, and international activities. The school organizes service projects in many areas of interest throughout the year, and it participates in the following volunteer projects on an ongoing basis:
INDIVIDUALS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND OUR STUDENTS WALK THE WALK. LEARNING AT GWCS IS MUCH MORE THAN BOOKS AND STUDYING, IT'S ABOUT GAINING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN AND MAKING OUR OWN CONTRIBUTION.
STREAM CLEANUP
Once per month, GWCS students have the opportunity to participate in local stream cleanup projects. The Stream Cleanup Team collects bottles, plastic bags, newspapers and other detritus that would collect around the otherwise beautiful stream banks. Participants rack up Community Service Hours and developed a deeper appreciation for our local natural environment.
Nick and Loea preparing a meal at Ronald McDonald House
Ronald McDonald House
Each month, a GWCS parent volunteer and a few GWCS students help the Northern Virginia Ronald McDonald House create a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children admitted at the Fairfax INOVA Hospital. Students cook dinner for families who live too far away from the hospital to return home each night.
Marie & Richie as Victim Actors for Fairfax CERT
CERT Victim Actors and Training
"What do you do if, during a major disaster, you call 9-1-1 and no one responds?
The Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program prepares regular citizens to safely help themselves, their families, and their communities during major emergencies where first responders are delayed."
GWCS students participate as Victim Actors to assist CERT training. In 2015-16 twelve GWCS students became CERT Level I certified after 21 hours of training in addition to practice exercises.
Invasive Plant Removal
English ivy is slowly killing other plant life in natural areas, including Fairfax County parks. Volunteering for the Fairfax County Park Authority, GWCS students are helping to reverse the damage in Annandale's King's Park and Wilburdale Park by pulling ivy off trees and uprooting it from ground areas. This is the ultimate hands-on project. These students' efforts to preserve the health of the park demonstrate a commitment to environmental responsibility.
Paul & Jodie planting native plants at Rutherford Park in Fairfax.
Earth Sangha
Earth Sangha is a Buddhist environmental nonprofit organization committed to practical environmental action that is informed with the Buddhist principles of nonviolence, tolerance, self-awareness, and compassion for other living things. "Sangha" is the Buddhist term for community. GWCS partnered with Earth Sangha in the winter of 2005 and have been tangling with Wilburdale's jungle of invasive alien plants ever since. Wilburdale Park, Annandale VA (Map)
Entrance Directions: On Backlick Road, pass the usual entrance on Wilburdale Lane and go to the next street (north) called Byrnelly Road. It's an obscure street name and obscure street. Turn left on Byrnelly Road.. The site is at the end of the street. Park at the end of the street.
Cystic Fibrosis Walk-A-Thon
Rain or shine - the GWCS community, including teachers, students, parents, siblings and friends, participate in the annual Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis walk-a-thon to raise money for CF research and care.
Josh packing up 150 PB&J sandwiches for delivery to a DC homeless shelter.
McKenna's WAGON Sandwich Making
Several times each year, GWCS students, parents, and staff take some time out to make sandwiches for McKenna’s Wagon, a mobile “soup kitchen” serving the homeless population in Washington, D.C.
Clean-up, clean-up, everybody, everywhere.
Clean-up, clean-up, everybody, do your share.
Friends of Accotink Creek
GWCS enjoys working with Friends of Accotink Creek to improve the health of this vital piece of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Friends of Accotink Creek is a volunteer organization restoring Accotink Creek to enhance enjoyment of biking, fishing, jogging, walking and bird watching along a major portion of the Cross County Trail. GWCS creek cleanups are scheduled regularly. Click Here to see more on GW's recent clean-up project.
Josh representing GWCS and leading the pack at a Potomac River Running 5k.
5K's
At GWCS we put our culture of fitness to good use. We run several 5Ks each year to benefit such causes as Bully Paws, Cystic Fibrosis, and Hopecam.
COMMUNITY SERVICE EXPECTATIONS FOR CURRENT GWCS STUDENTS:
HOURS: GWCS students are expected to complete a minimum of 30 hours of community service each school year. GWCS students have the opportunity to perform their community service hours through school-sponsored community service activities. However, students may complete their hours at any institution, facility, or program that is approved by the Director.
SUBMIT: Students must submit their Community Service Hours via the online Community Service Verification of Hours Form linked below. You may use a parent or Ms. Warden as your supervisor if you do not have a supervisor’s email. Up to 10 hours of community service may be earned by supporting our community via attending school-wide events such as coffeehouse, theatre productions, movie nights, exhibitions, etc.
TRANSCRIPT: GWCS includes community service hours earned each year on student’s official transcript. Failure to complete these hours will also be noted on the official transcript. Students who enroll after the start of school will be expected to provide 7.5 hours of service per quarter to meet the requirement. All approved community service hours, whether completed with GWCS or not, will be listed on the official transcript.
SUMMER: Although summer community service hours do not count towards the required 30 school year hours - we will gladly include summer hours on your transcript with submission of appropriate verification.
