Community Engagement
At Holton, you’ll come to truly know your SELF so that you can best contribute to your COMMUNITY and make a vital impact on the WORLD.
We encourage students to use critical thinking skills to creatively solve problems. We cultivate curiosity, examine injustices, and leverage students' knowledge so that they can actively engage in their communities with empathy, courage, and shared responsibility. By applying classroom knowledge and content to meet authentic community needs, our students become knowledgeable, willing, and eager participants in our social fabric. We ask students to collaborate with communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
Using this definition of community engagement the school has set the following program objectives:
Student Leadership
One of the most important aspects of the Community Engagement Program is that our students lead the way. To that end, Student Community Engagement Committees exist in each division, and are responsible for assisting with a wide range of community engagement opportunities that occur throughout the year. These efforts include planning and implementing projects that address local issues, supporting community-based organizations’ efforts to promote equity and sustainability, and promoting a sense of shared responsibility both within the Holton community and beyond.
In the Upper School student leadership opportunities also include elected grade-level representatives responsible for sharing information at class meetings, bringing awareness to important community needs, and leading grade-level projects and club participation.
Upper School Graduation Requirements
All Upper School students are required to complete 50 hours of community engagement for graduation. The total number of hours must be completed before entering Senior year. Please note, you may do more if you choose to.
50 Hours Breakdown
Grade 9 Hours - at least 10 hours to be completed before the start of 10th grade
- 10 hours to be completed before the start of 10th grade.
- Students can start counting hours as early as summer after 8th grade.
- Optional opportunities to get hours will be given to 9th grade students throughout the school year.
The 40 Hour Project
40 hours completed within one "theme"
- At least 40 hours of these hours must be completed at organizations that fall under the same "theme," this is called "The 40-Hour Project." This project must have a theme and address a specific community need. All hours should be completed at organizations that fall within the theme. For example:
- Theme: food insecurity
- Organizations: Martha's Table, Nourish Now, DC Central Food Kitchen
- These hours can be completed at any time throughout Upper School, but must be completed before the start of senior year.
All community engagement hours must be direct engagement with a population in need. A community in need addresses the gap between "what is" and "what should be." For example, all groups deserve a right to: safe housing, transportation, green space, education, healthcare, food, clean water, etc. Direct engagement is defined as students' interaction with the recipients of the project or the physical environment they have targeted for improvement. This differs from indirect engagement, channeling resources to a need. For example, serving the homeless at a soup kitchen (direct) versus holding a canned food drive for a local food pantry (indirect). Therefore, drives, fundraisers, 5k's, etc. will not count towards the graduation requirement.
