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Viewpoint School Community Service Initiative 

Viewpoint School believes it is as important to create good citizenship and ethical leaders in our students, as it is to challenge them intellectually and academically. Volunteering on-and-off campus helps students by awakening concern for those coping with hardship and encouraging a sense of responsibility for our environment. Through their philanthropic pursuits, students will develop their talents and skills, as well as learn from others with experiences different from their own.

In the Primary and Lower Schools

Our youngest children in Primary and Lower Schools, we seek to instill a spirit of community service through age-appropriate activities on campus. Students sponsor and participate in activities that support such organizations as the West Valley Food Pantry, UNICEF, Book Ends, and School on Wheels, as well as natural disaster relief. The discussions and lessons that correspond with these activities enable our youngest students to understand the needs of others while learning to contribute to their community.
 

In Lower School, the Student Action Committee provides students with the opportunity to practice leadership skills while performing service activities on Viewpoint’s campus. Students in Third and Fourth Grades serve as Lower School Representatives. Some of their responsibilities include: participating in projects that help beautify the Primary and Lower School grounds, raising funds for charities, collecting food and toys for the West Valley Food Pantry, and collecting gently used books for Book Ends.

The Pennies for a Purpose program encourages our community to collect pennies for the purpose of helping children in need. Our annual donations demonstrate that even the smallest denomination in our currency, much like the smallest students, can make a significant difference in our community as well as the world. Additionally, Primary School students actively participate and contribute to service activities that are sponsored in the other three divisions in our School.

Fifth Graders complete a mathematics unit where they create their own businesses, conduct a campus sale over several days, and then collect their business proceeds to make a charitable contribution. As a whole, the class then votes on which charity should receive their businesses’ collective profits. Fifth Grade classes annually present contributions of several thousand dollars to organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Alzheimer’s Association, Make a Wish Foundation, the Heart Fund, and City of Hope.

In the Middle School

Caring for our school community and giving one’s time and energy to make a positive impact on the world are fundamental values at Viewpoint. By volunteering on and off campus, students can explore their particular talents and skills and to learn from others with experiences different from their own. The primary goal of service learning is to help others by contributing to a purpose greater than oneself. Through our Middle School service learning activities, our students will also:

  • Learn the value of compassion and caring.
  • Learn how to put ideas into action.
  • Become more aware of society's needs and of an individual's civic responsibility.
  • Learn how one individual can be important to others.
  • Gain personal experience and skills.
  • Build self-esteem and self-reliance.

Some of our annual service projects include our Thanksgiving Day Food Drive for the West Valley Food Pantry, letter writing to U.S. service people through Operation Gratitude, Student Council-sponsored fundraisers, including the Pink for a Purpose t-shirt drive for breast cancer research, social events with Activities, Recreation & Care for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (ARC), and the Eighth Grade Advisory World Citizenship Project. Students in the Service and Advocacy elective also design and execute community service projects.

The Upper School

Students at Viewpoint initiate and execute community service activities throughout the year, in which there is a rich exchange between diverse groups of people. Our community exchanges enhance learning and awareness, and inspire an understanding of the world in which we live while fostering ethics, leadership and understanding. By doing so, we as a School are enriched and students learn the value of noble and generous actions.

Community outreach will occur through a combination of individually approved service projects as well as Viewpoint-sponsored projects throughout the year, including our annual Community Service Day the day before Thanksgiving. Because one of the goals of this program is to expand perspectives for our students, they are encouraged to volunteer with non-profits outside of their immediate circles. It remains a Graduation Requirement
for Upper School students to complete and record a minimum of 45 hours of community service by the end of the first semester of their senior year. 

CORE, Viewpoint's Community Service Honor Society
Community Outreach for Everyone (CORE) is the community service honor society at in the Upper School, that provides leadership opportunities for students to foster volunteerism in others. Based on the belief that all people have an obligation to share their knowledge and expertise with those in need, each member of CORE initiates and executes community service activities throughout the year in which other students may participate.