In the tradition of the social teaching of the Catholic Church and the charism of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Christian Brothers Academy recognizes that each of us has an obligation to aid the less fortunate in our society.

To that end, we require all students to engage in our service learning program. All students are required to do 20 hours of Service Learning work each year as a required part of their Theology Class. In addition to performing the service hours, the students will be asked to engage in reflection related to the service, either before performing the service, after or both.

Overview

The Service Learning requirement is broken down into 8 categories:

  • Service to the Poor
  • Service to the Hungry
  • Service to the Elderly
  • Service to Veterans
  • Service to the Church
  • Service to Individuals with Specialized Needs
  • Service to God’s Creation
  • Service through Municipalities

“God has chosen you to make him known to others.”
– St. John Baptist de La Salle

To ensure that students are exposed to different types of needs in society, up to half of a student’s overall service hours completed at CBA may be done in any one category. Service Learning hours should be completed through an established charitable organization fitting into one of the listed categories, however they are not bound to the specific organizations/examples listed below.

As there is an additional 15-hour service requirement in place for the National Honor Society, students who are members of NHS are required to do 15 hours of service learning per year of their membership (rather than 20) for a total of 30 hours per year. However, hours may not be applied simultaneously to both requirements and only the hours applied to the Service Learning requirement will be tracked through Theology class. Hours completed for NHS will be tracked through the NHS moderator.

Students should fill out a Service Learning Form when doing any service fitting one of the above categories, as well as the corresponding reflection sheets available through the student’s Theology class. All completed paperwork should be handed in to the student’s Theology teacher, who will track and monitor their progress, as well as help foster reflection.

Students should be sure to fill out a volunteer form (available in the Campus Ministry office) for all volunteer work completed which does not fit any of the above categories. While not every opportunity for which a student volunteers will fit the service learning requirement, all volunteer hours will be tracked in the Campus Ministry office. Please note that in order to receive credit through Theology class, students should complete all reflection questions in the packet. Simply handing in a signed supervisor sheet will not be sufficient.

In summary, to receive credit for the Service Learning requirement, students must:

  • Perform service through an established charitable organization
  • Complete the guided reflection sheet
  • Attach a completed supervisor form
  • Turn all materials into the student’s Theology teacher

“The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one’s self to others.”
– Pierre Tielhard de Chardin

Categories of Service

Service to the Poor

“Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor.”
– Pope Francis

“Like Saint Francis, look upon the poor as the image of Jesus Christ, and as being the best disposed to receive his Spirit abundantly. In this way, the more you cherish them, the more you will be united to Jesus Christ.”
– St. John Baptist de La Salle

Examples:

  • Catholic Charities
  • Mary’s Corner
  • Soles4Souls
  • Schenectady Home Furnishings Program
Service to the Hungry

“Bread for my self is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a spiritual one.”
– Nikolai Berdyaev

“The bread that you store up belongs to the hungry; the coat that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold that you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.”
– St. Basil the Great

Examples:

  • Equinox
  • Regional Food Bank
  • Parish-associated Food Banks/Soup Kitchens:
  • St. John/St. Ann
  • Blessed Sacrament
  • Meals on Wheels
Service to the Elderly

“The elderly constitute an important school of life, capable of transmitting values and traditions, and of fostering the growth of younger generations, who thus learn to seek not only their own good but also that of others. If the elderly are in situations where they experience sufferance and dependence, not only do they need health care services and appropriate assistance, but – and above all – they need to be treated with love.”
– Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 222.

Examples:

  • Albany County Nursing Home
  • Atria (Guilderland/Slingerlands/Shaker/Delmar Place, etc.)
  • Eddy Village Green at Cohoes
  • Meals on Wheels
Service to Veterans

“To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.”
– President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
(Motto of the Department of Veterans Affairs)

Examples:

  • Patriot Flight
  • Honor-a-Vet
  • VA Hospital
Service to the Church

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
– Galatians 6:10

Examples:

  • Altar Server
  • Lector
  • Teaching Religious Ed/Catechetics

“Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve.You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.

Service To Individuals with Specialized Needs

“It has been said that life has treated me harshly; and sometimes I have complained in my heart because many pleasures of human experience have been withheld from me…if much has been denied me, much, very much, has been given me…”
– Helen Keller

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”
– Scott Hamilton

Examples:

  • Special Olympics
  • Center For Disability Services
  • Saratoga Ice Stars
  • Ronald McDonald House
Service To God’s Creation

“The book of Genesis tells us that God created man and woman entrusting them with the task of filling the earth and subduing it, which does not mean exploiting it, but nurturing and protecting it, caring for it through their work.“
– Pope Francis

Examples:

  • Animal shelters
  • Environmentally-based projects
Service through Municipalities

“The characteristic implication of subsidiarity is participation, which is expressed essentially in a series of activities by means of the citizen, either as an individual or in association with others…contributes to the cultural, economic, political or social life of the civil community to which he belongs.”
– Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 189.

Examples:

  • Volunteer Fireman
  • Town/Village Youth Courts
  • Boy Scout Eagle Projects
  • Youth Advisory Board