Community Service at Woodberry

Community Service

Why Community Service is Important

Legendary headmaster, J. Carter Walker, believed that community service was an integral part of the boarding school curriculum at Woodberry Forest School. He wrote:

“Foremost in our thinking is our obligation to correct the mistaken idea that the purpose of education is selfish; on the contrary, we try to teach our boys that education is training for service to others rather than for success for one's self; to give rather than to get; for
sacrifice rather than for gratification.”

Our community service program aims to develop tolerant, selfless individuals who understand others, appreciate their needs, and find community service work personally satisfying. As part of our curriculum, we require our students to engage in community service so they experience the joy of serving others.

Community Service Requirement

All current 5th and 6th Form students must complete 15 hours of community service per year at Woodberry before graduation. Woodberry encourages that at least half of these hours be "contact hours," spent in direct contact with those benefiting from their service.

How to Fulfill the Requirement

Woodberry has integrated community service into our student experience during the school year. Whether it be form-based community service projects, or our community-wide service day each spring, a Woodberry student will participate in our community service programming.

3rd Form River Cleanup Days: for our newest and youngest students to get to work to help clean our own campus and river, but also to understand that the work here connects to improving the greater Chesapeake Bay watershed.
4th Form Special Olympics: for our 4th form class to engage with the region around us, hosting a Special Olympics basketball tournament in the winter, and a larger scale multi-sport event in May.
6th Form Expedition: for our sixth form class to assist a community and its residents with critical home repairs, partnering with the Appalachian Service Project and working alongside home residents
Madison Day: Our annual school-wide service day for our entire student and faculty community to support our county and neighbors in local service projects.

Students can also plan to perform service work at home during the summer break and/or breaks during the school year. Most students seem to derive more satisfaction from making one or two major contributions rather than attempting numerous smaller projects.

Documenting Community Service

To facilitate record-keeping at Woodberry, you can submit hours in one of the following ways:

Have the organization email communityservice@woodberry.org directly with the total hours completed and a brief description of the work.
Scanning and sending a letter or form the organization has completed.
Emailing the organization and copying communityservice@woodberry.org for confirmation.
Completing and turning in this form.

Service Award

The sixty-hour service requirement is merely a guideline; many students do much more. Annually, the Rhodes Book Award is presented to a 4th form student who has demonstrated through his engagement with various service opportunities on- and off-campus a commitment to the well-being of others and the communities to which they belong. Through his exemplary commitment, the recipient reflects the best aspects of a servant-leader.

Funding Is Available for Your Service Project
The Class of 2008 Community Service Grant was established by parents and grandparents of the Class of 2008 as a gift to Woodberry Forest. The program enhances Woodberry’s commitment to service learning by providing resources for students who wish to spearhead a service project during the school year or the summer.

Special Olympics at Woodberry

Madison Day

River Clean Up

Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.

Woodberry Forest, VA 22989
Phone: 540-672-3900

Explore & Resources

Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.