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High school isn’t all about academics: Community service gives students the chance to volunteer their time and skill sets to make a difference in the lives of others. They might roll up their sleeves to plant a community garden or use their tech talents to help people become more computer savvy. With community service ideas for high school, students learn what it means to be valuable, empathetic members of their community. Explore a few unique and interesting ideas for your students to try as individual or group projects. 

Tackle individual projects that make an impact

Community service ideas for high school students range from cleaning local parks to serving at soup kitchens and can even connect with classroom learning. These activities offer opportunities for passion project ideas and senior project ideas. They also provide valuable life skills activities for high school students. 

• Craft a STEM Storytime: Read STEM-themed stories or lead hands-on demonstrations at a local library, bookstore, makerspace, or other youth-friendly community space.
• Mentor Science Fair Projects: Guide younger students in planning and presenting science fair projects, including writing clear, persuasive explanations.
• Create a Community Service Newsletter: Produce a newsletter for your community that highlights different community service opportunities and volunteers.
• Record Bedtime Story Videos: Share recorded book readings or lullabies from school musical groups to be shared with children in hospitals or on extended leaves from school.
• Promote Eco-Friendly Literacy: Volunteer to create pamphlets on topics like recycling or local wildlife to be distributed at a library or community center. Add narratives to make the pamphlets engaging.

Environmental Science Service Learning Stewardship Project
By Spectacular Science
Grades: 8th-11th
Standards: NGSS HS-ESS3-1, 3-2; MS-ESS3-5

Empower students with science-based solutions to community problems like planting trees and cleaning up trash in the community. The resource provides students with project ideas, planning sheets, and research organizers. 

Enjoy group community service ideas for high school students

Make a bigger impact by involving your entire class. Larger groups can accomplish more, whether it’s volunteering with an established nonprofit organization or completing a unique community-centered project. You can also tie activities to civic lessons aligned with the National Council for the Social Studies standards.

• Develop a Senior Dinner Theater: Turn favorite stories into a play performed for seniors during lunch or dinner. Add a touch of elegance by inviting them to dress up.
• Curate a Pop-Up Art Show: Students create art pieces and host a gallery walk at a local venue.
• Build Kindness Benches: Design, build, and decorate benches for community spaces. Collaborate with local centers for materials and approval to promote kindness.
• Draft Senior Stories: Interview local seniors and compile a memory book, written and illustrated by students working in groups.
• Stage a Talent Show Tour: Organize a talent show to perform at community centers, senior centers, and hospitals, including planning and promoting the event, as well as designing the stage.
• Launch a Drawing Exchange: Create artwork and notes for children who are hospitalized, receiving drawings and messages in return.

Lead whole school community service projects for high school

Make a big impact on your community by tackling large projects with multiple moving parts. Examples include after-school tutoring programs or coordinating park cleanups. Plan, build, and design activities that shine. 

• Design a STEM Upcycling Workshop: Repair old gadgets brought by community members and donate them. Run workshops to teach others how to fix devices.
• Host an Intergenerational Festival: Organize a festival for seniors with music, storytelling, art stations, and games led by student volunteers.
• Have a Cultural Food Night: Students research their heritage or a studied culture, prepare traditional dishes, and serve them at an event benefiting a food bank.
• Devise Cooking Demo Videos: Create videos showing recipes with food bank staples. Add the videos to a website and provide your community with a pamphlet providing the links. 
• Plan a Kid’s Night: Organize a free evening for children with puzzles, board games, activities, prizes, movies, and more. 

Every great project starts somewhere. Students eager to launch a community service initiative can get started quickly using readily available resources.

Service Learning Student Leadership Workbook Step by Step to Plan Projects
By Kindness Clubhouse
Grades: 9th-12th
Standards: CCSSSL.9-10.1, 9-10.1b, 9-10.1c

This workbook provides essential knowledge for students looking to add community service projects to their high school experience. It includes information for creating a vision, building relationships with the community, and tracking hours. There are also worksheets to help round out the experience. 

Self-Directed Service-Learning Project Tool Kit for High School Students
By Experiential Learning Depot
Grades: 10th-12th
Standards: CCSS SL.9-10.1, 9-10.1b, 9-10.1c

Give students guidance in designing and leading community service projects with this toolkit that includes resources for choosing a topic, brainstorming ideas, and interviewing community members. All teachers need to do is introduce the materials.

COMMUNITY SERVICE | Volunteering Project | Civics | American Government
By Chalk Dust Diva — History – Social Science
Grades: 9th-12th

Explore how to make an impact and be a responsible citizen of the U.S. with civic community project ideas. This five-page editable PDF includes directions, student evaluation forms, and a teacher letter. 

Volunteering and Community Service Activities Career Exploration Grade 9 to 12
By Anne Vize Writing
Grades: 9th-12th
Standards: CCSS CCRA.R.1, R.4; CCRA.SL.1

Start the year with volunteer sign-up sheets, an informational guide, and a list of service ideas. Students can explore new opportunities, understand their choices, and prepare for interviews.

Discover why community service is important

When it comes to what is a good goal for high school, community service should be a top priority. Many schools even require 20-40 service hours for graduation. More importantly, volunteering helps students build teamwork, communication, and leadership skills.

Community service for high school students strengthens college applications and resumes by demonstrating initiative and responsibility. It can spark career interests, foster empathy, and highlight the value of contributing to the common good. Most importantly, students experience firsthand how classroom learning connects to meaningful, real-world situations — building upon skills learned in community service ideas for middle school students. 

Make a difference in your community with TPT

Community service ideas for high school students are about more than a graduation requirement. Equip your students with high school community service resources from TPT that encourage creative thinking and purposeful service. From project ideas to worksheets for planning and reflection, these tools help students design their own projects while gaining the skills needed to be productive, engaged citizens.