Community Service

We encourage students to be participants in life, not just spectators. In this way community service is a central part of the OVS experience as we strive to teach students at all grade levels that we all need to give, in large and small ways, to better our community, the environment, and the world.

This mission begins in the early grade levels with pre-kindergarten students who raise funds to support organizations like the Humane Society of Ventura County, based in Ojai. Second-graders bake and sell loaves of bread to buy toys for children with cancer at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, or books for patients undergoing treatment at Ventura County Pediatric Diagnostic Center.

In the middle and high school grades, students participate in weekend Coastal Cleanup efforts, restoration projects at the Channel Islands National Park, and other environmental-themed projects that dovetail with their Outdoor Education activities. High school students also have the opportunity regularly volunteer at the Humane Society of Ventura County, Ventura River Watershed Youth Coalition, Empty Bowls, and more.

In recent years, students, parents and teachers have also participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life to raise money and awareness of the fight against cancer.