Does Community Theater count as Community Service?

[chelle]

D. is applying for as many scholarships as she can. Some of them require essays and are extremely time consuming. Therefore, I am trying to guide her towards the ones she is most eligible for. She has done some Community Service but most of them are one time deals. She has always tried to squeeze some activities such as wrapping presents to help Autistic Services or Special Olympics in between musicals. Of course she has sung at nursing homes and such with her chorus. When you have to list hours most of them only require 3 - 4 hours. Do people outside of MT consider all the hours spent on Community Theater "Community SErvice" ? D has never gotten paid and has spent tons of hours in each production. Is it worth applying for scholarships that focus on Community Service?

[onstage]

I don't think you could consider community theater to be "community service" -- with the possible exception of a church-related theater, or something that was done as a fund-raiser for a charity. Certainly the nursing-home activities would apply, though.

I served on the board of directors for a local charity recently; when we reviewed the scholarship essays, the ones that caught our attention were generally written by volunteer firefighters, hospital volunteers, students who did tutoring, or were involved with food pantries, etc. If there's a time issue here, you might want to focus on some other scholarships that apply more directly to your D's situation.

[cheeky2126]

I think anything that your D didn't get paid to do would count as volunteer ours and hence community service. For example, I know many people who have completed science fair projects by working in labs (for prestigious competitions like STS, ISEF and Siemens) and have counted that as community service.

[MTgrlsmom]

chelle - we just went through the same exercise and learned along the way that, like onstage says, performance related "volunteer hours" are not taken into the consideration of those of kids that volunteer at hospitals, homeless shelters etc.

Although my D happened to have a chunk of hours, because she teaches homeless kids theatre at a shelter, her other many "volunteer hours" never had any bearing whatsoever.

As you said, these applications take a lot of time and it is really better to put that time into getting local talent or performing arts related scholarships from theatre companies she has performed with or organizations that promote the arts in your region.

[Ninnynoddle]

What about non-performance related work at community theatres? Sometimes it was building/tearing down sets for yes, shows I was in, but other times it included labor for things I wasn't involved in at all. Obviously by my wording I'm hoping that it counts.

[anothermom-w-q]

My D used hours where she was doing tech work as an addition to her other community service, when she was not in the show. For instance when she painted sets for shows that she was not in the cast she added that to her hours, for both her school's community service requirement (40 hours to graduate) as well as on her applications. She did not use it for scholarship consideration.

[musicmom1215]

I don't think those hours would count as community service unless the theater group was putting on free shows in an effort to culturally enlighten the general population. Even though you were not being paid for your hours of hard work (I'm not either!), the community theater is probably charging people to attend the show in hope of making enough money to put on the next show. As was stated above, if the production is for a charity fundraiser, that would probably count as community service.

[chelle]

Onstage, Did you look at students who did many volunteer activities that were short in nature? D. does tutor through the Honors Society at school. She also helps the Elementary school productions with their make-up. She has sung in the Church Choir and for charity fundraisers. The problem is when you have to list your top 5 service project, none of them equal many hours in and of themself. Making a long time committment was always impossible with her schedule so she volunteered when possible.

[onstage]

chelle: my D's resume was similar to yours as far as community service. She did many short volunteer activities, but because of her busy theater schedule, was not able to really focus on just one. Believe me, I know these things can really add up to many hours. And it can look good on a college resume. Unfortunately, as far as scholarship essays go, this sort of "community service" tends to look a bit scattered. I sympathize!

[StickerShock]

Trying to claim community theater as community service would be quite a stretch! Kids who seek out the stage are doing so for their own enjoyment. It would be analogous to the basketball team's point guard claimning all the practice & game hours as community service. Sure, the "community" shows up to watch & may or may not enjoy the performance, but the artists & athletes are benefitting themselves.

Save the community scholarship $$ for kids who do the grunt work without being on "stage" -- like the tutors, house builders, candystripers, disaster relief woprkers, and the like.

[chelle]

Onstage, I couldn't agree with you more. However, the community service, no matter how scattered it is, builds good character, if not money. Fortunately many of her "service" hours were benefits for charity organizations. It has given her a good foundation and she has already developed a philosophy of "giving back".

[onstage]

Absolutely right!

[avcastner]

I think if your daughter did behind the scene work or front-of-house work for a play she was not performing in, it should be considered community service.

However, strike or load-in should not be considered if she was performing, because then she is actually serving herself (as well as the rest of the group).

[khsstitches]

Agree with avcastner. Tech work, ushering, front office volunteering - I think that all counts. Performing - no, at least not in my book.

[spenier]

I know its an old thread, but until recently I would have thought of community theater as just another extracurricular activity, but after seeing it mentioned on an application in an unexpected place and then searching the net (e.g. this thread), I think a case could be made for it being in the community service category. I am curious if anyone has new views or experience to offer regarding the original question.

I agree that if ranking “community service” activities based on their benefit to society, community theater would come below many others. However, they are non-profit organizations where every member is a volunteer. They do generally charge admission, but it is a reduced rate compared to professional and semi-professional theaters and it is covering production expenses, not salaries. They are providing an entertainment benefit to the community at a reduced rate, and an even more reduced rate for retirees and students.

It is true that the volunteers, whether performing or not, are getting benefits from it. There is the experience, especially for the students who want to go into a related field, but there is also the social and entertainment value of being part of the group. I think that is true of most volunteer work. For example, if a student who plans to go into a medical field volunteers at a hospital, should they be able to list that volunteer time as community service? What about the future business major who volunteers for a United Way campaign? Does the business related experience gained and the fact that they are making contacts with members of the business community mean they can’t list that activity under community service?

I used to think the answer to the original question (Does Community Theater count as Community Service?) was straight forward, but it no longer seems that way to me.