Every day for a month, students travel to different locations and sites around the city, offering their services however they’re needed.

“At first, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to get an extra credit, so maybe I can take a spare in Grade 12,’ ” said Paolo Vistan, a participant who will be starting his final year at the Toronto school this fall. “But it just stuck with me.”

Vistan is in his third year with the program.

Though he no longer earns a credit for participating, he knows there are plenty of other benefits that motivate him to volunteer.

“It’s the experience and the fun and getting involved in the community that keeps me coming back,” he said.

Every day begins with prayer before the students visit sites like the Good Shepherd Centre, a downtown homeless shelter, and GreenHere, a charity dedicated to the environment.

As volunteers, they do whatever work needs to be done, from preparing meals to landscaping to working with marginalized members of society.

At sites like Variety Village, a gym and community centre open to people with disabilities in the city’s east end, the students also have the opportunity to learn and build leadership and team skills.

“We may not always be volunteering, but when we do team-building, it helps us for when we do go out and volunteer,” said Angela Lee, a Grade 12 student at St. Basil the Great Secondary School.

The days of service are also accompanied by written reflections, where the volunteers talk and write of the effect their work has on the community and how it can make them into better leaders.

Marks are determined by these reflections, and also through a course exam.

“I believe the way that we’re going to do this is not a matter of thinking that we just need to do it. It takes a conversion of heart to really make this happen,” said Steve De Quintal, who organizes the course.

“It’s really an understanding of who we are as believers, of what we’re called to do, and it’s fun and rewarding.”

De Quintal runs volunteer programs with students throughout the entire year as a teacher at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton. During the school year, he co-ordinates night classes and Saturday school classes.

He also takes his religion class out to volunteer on occasion, and admits he has “big dreams” about integrating this aspect of education into the regular curriculum.

“It would be beautiful if kids could take a leadership semester: co-op, religion and leadership every day for five months,” said De Quintal.

Involved in volunteering since his own days in high school, De Quintal has done more than 100 separate service day trips with students.

“It’s a great way to spend the summer,” he said. “It’s good people doing good work.”