YES Guidelines

Effective August 9, 2023

The Clements Y.E.S. Program's purpose is to connect students and community members with service opportunities requested in and by the local community. Throughout the past two years, we have been lenient with accepting virtual and passive volunteer hours because of COVID precautions. Since most precautions are no longer necessary, we are going back to pre-COVID procedures and will no longer be accepting virtual service. Note that this includes virtual signatures on service forms.

Please be aware that beginning August 1, 2022, there will be a limit of 10 hours of passive volunteer hours per year of high school (9, 10, 11, 12). Passive volunteer hours constitute service that is performed where the student does not interact with the people that the non-profit is serving. Passive service examples include but are not limited to: letter/note writing, making cookies, decorating bags, making posters or making other requested items to donate. Active service is service that directly impacts the people/animals the non-profit is trying to serve. Virtual activities, such as online tutoring, will need to be approved by the administrator prior to service. If you have any specific questions about what will/will not be accepted, please email the administrator before you volunteer.

Acceptable Y.E.S Hours

Volunteering MUST be at a not-for-profit organization [501(c)(3)] to be accepted as Y.E.S. hours. This means that it needs to be registered with the IRS.

This includes the organization or agency that represents the business sponsors of any charitable events benefitting the general community other than the business itself.
This also includes the service-oriented youth volunteer programs run under certain business entities such as hospitals and senior centers.
Virtual service will no longer be accepted for Y.E.S. hours. This includes but is not limited to online tutoring, online music lessons, etc.

Please Note:

Verify the non-profit status with the organization before volunteering.
Eligibility of the organization/activity is determined by the Y.E.S. program coordinators.
We encourage students to do a variety of service, as opposed to volunteering for just one organization.

If you are a member of an organization/club/youth program, volunteering is accepted as Y.E.S. hours only after you have met your own program requirements.

Accepted are: participation in events administered by your organization to benefit other non-profit organizations or the general communities.
Not accepted are:

Donations (we are no longer offering service hours for donations);
meetings;
practice time;
service done during school hours (this includes but is not limited to Junior Achievement, assisting teachers during school hours, etc.)
fund-raising (exceptions need to be authorized PRIOR to the event);
administrative activities;
planning and preparation time (i.e., preparing lessons for tutoring), etc.
hours from 100% student run organizations due to the lack of adult oversight;
Manning a concession stand for school-related events, fundraising for clubs, or other related activities which do NOT benefit the volunteering student as a member of the team are acceptable. Eg. A band member volunteering to man the volleyball concession stand, but not the Band concession stand.

Not accepted are: community service hours used to obtain reorganization (such as Scout Badges) or to satisfy the requirements (e.g., NHS) from the organization you belong to. I.e., no double dipping: hours may not be counted twice!

Baby-sitting is only an acceptable Y.E.S. volunteer activity in the following cases and upon approval of the Y.E.S. program coordinators:

for families with special-needs children;
in medical emergencies;
for teachers to attend a school-related function.
In general, baby-sitting siblings is not accepted.

Tutoring must be under a structured program, such as schools or community centers. Tutoring time consists of actual instruction time spent with students. All YES forms must have a teacher's signature. Note: Tutoring at learning centers (for-profit organizations) is not accepted for Y.E.S. hours.
Political campaigns: working for a particular candidate will not count for Y.E.S. hours, but working in a general "get out the vote" effort that doesn't promote one candidate or political party over the other may count for Y.E.S. hours. Working to get out the vote from a particular candidate's office will not be included for Y.E.S. hours.
Blood drives: 1 donation = 1 Y.E.S. hour.
Participation in charity walks/runs/rides is accepted for Y.E.S. hours. One participation in a charity walk/run/ride = 1 Y.E.S. hour.
Participation in medical studies is not accepted for Y.E.S. hours.
Participating (including proctoring) in surveys is not accepted for Y.E.S. hours.
Travel time to and from an event does not count. Hours may only be counted from the beginning to the end of the service.
Doubled or bonus hours will not be accepted.
Performance-oriented community service: only the performance (live or recorded), not the practice/training, is counted as Y.E.S. hours. MAX 1 service hour will be accepted.
Senior living/retirement homes: hours in senior centers will no longer be accepted.
All hours must be signed off by a sponsoring adult. A sponsoring adult may not include a parent / guardian, sibling. Students cannot sign off for other students.
Hospitals/Doctors: Volunteering at a hospital is acceptable with an official log from the hospital's volunteer program; however, working at a doctor's office is not, unless the doctor is donating his/her time to a free clinic.

Community Service Activities through Religious Affiliation:

Acceptable: Working with your youth group at a food pantry or shelter, building a Habitat House, helping with Special Olympics, and delivering Meals on Wheels are forms of acceptable service. These are just examples. Outreach activities such as working at a religious or cultural carnival, or vacation bible school is also acceptable.

Not Acceptable: Any service that solely benefits a religious affiliation, such as teaching religious school, being a teacher aide in religious school, setting up the musical system for services, setting up for religious programs, and cleaning the facility after services are NOT acceptable examples of service hours.

Y.E.S. Program Requirements

The required hours for recognition are 100 hours by graduation (however, the requirements have been lowered due to COVID through 2024).
In order to make the recognition deadline, senior participants must submit all their Y.E.S. hours by March 31st.
You can continue to submit Y.E.S. hours beyond the first 100 hours. They are recorded in the system.
Only 25 total summer hours across all 4 years count towards your required 100 hours.
You may begin earning summer hours during the summer before freshman year, but you will be unable to submit them before the school year starts.
Hours completed at school during the closing and opening phases of the year will count as regular school hours, and not summer hours. Acceptable examples include: helping teachers during the last day of school, helping with freshman orientation, helping teachers set up their classrooms before the start of the school year, and helping with textbooks before the beginning of the school year.
The summer hours beyond the limit of 25 are recorded as "extra hours" in the system.
Up to 8 hours for any 24-hour period is accepted.
If you work multiple days, weeks, or months on a particular project, provide a log of the dates and hours worked and attach it to your Y.E.S. Form.
Y.E.S. hours are accepted no later than 6 months from the date of service. For ongoing activity (i.e. Generation Youth, libraries, Red Cross), the acceptable period is extended to 12 months, i.e., the oldest activity in the log/form is no more than 12 months from the date of service and the log /form must be submitted within 6 months of the last date of service.
The Y.E.S. form and the log must be signed by an ADULT representative of the organization you volunteer for, NOT BY A STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE.
A form with any altered item is not accepted. A new form with proper signature is required.
You MUST bring a copy of your form with you when you turn in your hours. The copy will be stamped and returned to you for your record.
Your submitted Y.E.S. hours, upon approval, are entered in the Y.E.S. Program system. You can query for your Y.E.S. hour records online at service.chsyes.info. You must create an account to receive access.
It is the responsibility of the student to correctly complete all YES forms, and to consult the Y.E.S. Coordinators if he or she has any questions.
All service hours are subject to the Y.E.S. Committee approval.
We do our best to check hours and may contact the organization if we have questions. Anyone caught falsifying hours may be removed from Y.E.S.