LKHA: Community Service

street clean up by HASF students Teaching students to be active members of the community plays a vital role in a Hebrew Academy education. Each student in grades 9 through 12 is required to complete 30 hours of community service per academic year. Students complete this requirement in any number of ways, both on campus and throughout the Bay Area. On campus, they have volunteered to assist in various school related activities, perhaps tutoring their peers or younger students, or translating forms and letters from English to Russian for many of our Russian speaking families. Off campus, students have volunteered for large-scale events at numerous organizations, as well as longer-term commitments with specific job responsibilities.

Among others, students have volunteered for the following:

- Jewish Family and Children’s Services
- University of San Francisco Athletics
- Juan Bautista Community Garden
- Exploratorium
- The Bay Fund
- Neighborhood clean-up projects

Testimonials

“The Bay Fund is an organization dedicated to helping the first members of Bay Area families attend college. The selfless efforts of these 6 people this weekend helped The Bay Fund to raise tens of thousands of dollars. For the last 6 months I have been impressed, inspired and endeared to the students and families of Hebrew Academy. The effort of these 6 young people reinforces my positive feelings. Please note this effort as is appropriate, and accept my thanks on behalf of The Bay Fund.”
- Barry Fishman, The Bay Fund

“Rost completed 52 hours of exemplary volunteer service at the Exploratorium, from June 23rd through August 26th. His primary assignment was to manipulate each of the 400 exhibits currently available to visitors, and provide feedback on the maintenance condition, educational and “fun” value, and accessibility from the perspective of someone in his age group (15-17). He was also encouraged to assist with the ongoing responsibility of cleaning exhibits in this busy, hands-on environment. As a volunteer, he also participated in several “Floorwalks” with one of our Adult Explainers, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the science behind our collection. It was a pleasure to host Rost at our science center!”
- Deirdre Araujo, Manager Volunteer Services, Exploratorium

“This is to certify that Alex, a high school student and a resident of the Park Merced community, provided well-appreciated and voluntary service to our Community Garden in recent weeks. He donated more than 8 hours of his time helping us on our projects meant to nurture and improve our garden. The projects and connected activities called for a variety of skills on his part and he cheerfully delivered it all, to the complete satisfaction of his team members.”
- M.K. Venkatachari, Chief Garden Coordinator, Juan Bautista Community Garden