Service Learning Program

What is Service Learning?

Service learning is an educational method that meets a real need in the community and a real need in the classroom. It integrates student volunteer service to the community with reflection and classroom connections in order to deepen understanding. It is a hands-on approach to education that enriches everyone involved. At Bishop O’Dowd, we focus the educational component more toward social justice, in line with our ESLR’s and Catholic Social Teaching.

Every student will complete a minimum of 100 hours of service throughout a four-year program. Each project will help students learn from the people they serve by fostering relationships with those folks. The agencies and programs we partner with will focus on people who have been pushed to the sides of society, those folks who have been marginalized, disenfranchised, misjudged, forgotten, or ignored. From these people, students will gain a personal understanding of social justice and our Christian call to reach out to those on the edges.

General Expected Outcomes

The Service Learning program will create opportunities for students to:

• Build relationships with the people they serve
• Learn about justice issues directly from the people students serve
• Understand Catholic Social Teaching in light of their lives and reality
• Create a more just world

Mission and Philosophy

The Bishop O’Dowd Service Learning program will focus on students learning from the people they serve. In all cases we will require students to have sufficient direct contact in order to build relationships with people at their service sites. In effect this means that we will not stress “indirect” service for the required program unless it has a clear curricular outcome. As a school in general, we will always encourage students to volunteer in whatever capacity they can be most helpful, whether this be directly or indirectly helping others or society at large. All required service must be done outside of regular school hours.

Overview of the Service Learning Program

Freshman Class - The Ancestors Project

Our freshmen will visit with older folks who are many times forgotten in our society. Every student will volunteer 10 hours at an elder residence during the semester they have the Hebrew Scriptures course. Students are placed at one of ten specific residences. (click title for info)

Sophomore Class - The Friends Project

The sophomore service learning helps students improve their leadership skills by building a friendship/mentoring relationship with either children or with people (of any age) living with disabilities. Students will choose their own placement (with approval) where they will give at least 25 hours of volunteer time. They are given the school year to complete this project, but each student must select personal benchmarks (work due dates.) A written journal reflection will help students to learn from the people we serve and learn more about ourselves in the process.

Sophomore Retreat/St. Anthony Immersion with homeless people

This one-day trip is both a retreat and a service experience. Every student will go with their Catholic Experience class to the St. Anthony Foundation in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.

• To be announced.

Parents, we very much need your help as chaperones for the day. You may go the entire day with the class, or meet the group in San Francisco at 9:00 AM and depart at Noon. Please e-mail Ms. Sara Bauermeister at sbauermeister@bishopodowd.org if interested or for more information.

Students, click here for the Student Packet if you did not get one (provided in class the day before the immersion, including details of the day and the homework assignment due the class day after your immersion)

Click here to download a permission slip.

Both the Student Packet and Permission slip will be provided in your Catholic Experience class, so you do not need to download this unless you missed the in-class orientation.

Junior/Senior Classes - The Anawim Project

Current juniors will complete a minimum of 16 hours of service within their Christian Morality curriculum. Individual teachers will assign and explain this service learning project.

“Anawim” is a Hebrew word meaning “God’s little poor ones,” another way to refer to those of us pushed to the sides of society or marginalized. Students will do a 60 hour project that will connect them directly with a group of people who are marginalized by our society. Students will need to pre-schedule their project between summer after sophomore year and December of senior year. A full orientation will be given to sophomore students at the beginning of 2nd Semester. (click title for more info)

All School Charity Drives

Everyone participates in our Food and Toy Drive at Christmas, our Mission Drive in the spring and our monthly Dollar Days.

Immersion Program

Immersions are intensive service retreats where participants can "immerse" themselves in a situation that is outside their experience. Each trip addresses social justice, simple living, spirituality, community, and service within the local context. Immersion Trips are open current students who have completed sophomore year by the trip date (Juniors and Seniors can apply for Spring Break, Sophomores and Juniors can apply for summer.)

There will be three destinations for this spring and summer: New Orleans over Spring Break, and Mexico and Homeless locally in summer. Applications will be due in January. 

Questions? Contact Mr. Greg Moore
(510) 553-8645
gmoore@bishopodowd.org