Buist Academy for Advanced Studies
103 Calhoun St. Charleston, South Carolina
29401
The Buist Academy Middle Years Programme “kicked off” the 2014-2015 community service program on
October 16. Students explored local organizations and their needs. They discussed the questions,” Why
community service?”, “What is community service?”
Why Community Service?
It has always been our philosophy to encourage students to explore their rights and responsibilities in the
community. The Buist Mission states that “Buist Academy equips students with the knowledge, skills,
and attributes necessary to take action in their local and global community.”
Students who complete community service hours during the Middle Years programme graduate with a
community service honor cord, and hours noted on an MYP certificate. The cumulative number of
hours over their MYP career should equal 45 to wear the cord and receive the certificate. Students are
encouraged to break this up over the 3 years.
In addition to the hours, MYP Students graduating in 2016 and 2017 will complete a new project in their
8th grade year, The Community Project. (A pilot group of students is completing The Community Project
this school year.). Therefore, the class of 2015 will receive an honor cord and certificate (with hours
noted) when they log 45 hours of approved community service, while the class of 2016 will receive the
honor cord and certificate (with hours noted) for completion of 45 hours of approved community
service including The Community Project in their 8th grade year.
In The Community Project, 8th grade students focus on one community, identify its need, and state a
personal goal for action. They maintain a process journal throughout the project and present their
progress. With this in mind, 6th and 7th grade students can accumulate hours while purposefully exploring
multiple communities that are of interest to them before dedicating themselves to just one community in
The Community Project.
All students will propose community service projects in 6th and 7th grade and complete The Community
Project in 8th grade online in the ManageBac system. Homeroom teachers will approve projects and
supervise cumulative hours logged in the system.
What is (considered) Community Service?
Students follow the steps outlined below to determine whether their proposal is Community
Service:
Identify the community
Identify the need
State your goal
Define the global context
Buist Academy for Advanced Studies
103 Calhoun St. Charleston, South Carolina
29401
Quick Guide to ManageBac:
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Go to: buist.managebac.com
Enter your school email and password
Click on the Blue tab “Profile”
Scroll down to view Service as Action
Add S&A Activity on the right
You will be prompted to enter:
Activity Name
Community & Service Hours
Location
Start & End Dates
Activity Supervisor Information (Name, Email Address, Telephone & Title)
Organization information, activity aim and description
- goal to meet the need of the community
Targeted learning outcomes