Career and Technical Education
Purple Cord Program
Glenna Munuswamy
The Purple cord award is a distinguished graduation award available to SWHS students who volunteer for a total of 160 service and is awarded at annual Seniors Awards Ceremony in the spring and at Commencement.
Starting with the class of 2015-2016
- The Class of 2017 must complete 80 hours by April 30, 2017.
- The Class of 2018 must complete 120 hours by April 30, 2018.
- The Class of 2019 must complete 160 hours by April 30, 2019.
*Due to the limits on students' ability to be in large groups or activities due to the coronavirus, students in the graduating classes of 2022, 2023, and 2024 will only be required to complete 120 hours of service during their high school career.
Hours can begin accumulating on June 1st of students' eighth grade year and finish accumulating on April 30th of the students' senior year.
It is encouraged that students complete 40 hours per year. However, student can accumulate the hours at any point to achieve 160 hours by graduation. If more that 40 hours are accumulated in one year, extra hours will be carried over to the next year. The Purple Cord Committee will review hours submitted.
Volunteer hours cannot be paid hours or court-ordered community service hours.
A list of pre-approved volunteer opportunities and all of the forms required can be found below. Students can ask for approval of opportunities not on the list by filling out the pre-approved form below.
Hours performed as part of membership responsibilities of a club or organization will not count toward Purple Cord. In addition, volunteer work that results in a financial benefit to the individual or the group will not count. However, hours will count if the group performs a service project beyond those responsibilities with no pay going to themselves or the organization (for instance, a year clean-up day).
You will be given a list of pre-approved organizations when you enroll in the Purple Cord Program. Links are also on the South Winneshiek Community Schools website. You can contact Glenna Munuswamy to receive a list of pre-approved organizations.
No. Any volunteer hours from organizations not on the pre-approved list will not be counted. You complete the pre-approval form to have an organization placed on the pre-approved list. You should complete this form a few weeks before you plan on volunteering at this organization.
First, you need to complete and turn in your enrollment form. After it is completed and turned in, you can begin to schedule your volunteer hours from the pre-approved list of organizations.
April 30th of each year. It is best to complete the Verification of Service Form and turn it in immediately after you have completed your service.
June 1, 2015
At the end of your service, turn in the completed form to (person's name here). (He/She) will keep track of your hours. At the end of the semester, your hours will be posted on JMC under your name. You should check this each semester to make sure that your hours are being tracked correctly.