2023-2024 President's Volunteer Service Award Application Instructions 

Applications open August 1, 2024 

The President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) was developed to honor Americans (citizens or green-card holders) who have provided significant service to their schools, communities, and the world through their leadership, time, actions, and talents. 

To apply for this award, follow the steps below. Note: in order to apply for PVSA through Build Our Bridge Academy, you must have volunteered at least 25 hours for BOBtutor during the 12-month period from August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024. 

1. Please read the following information carefully and make sure you are eligible to apply: 

Volunteer Eligibility 

• United States citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e., green card holder). 

• Completes eligible service within a 12-month period between August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024 (for annual Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards) and over a lifetime (for Lifetime Achievement Awards). Hours that were submitted for last year’s PVSA may not be used twice. 

Eligible Service: 

Unpaid acts of volunteer service benefiting others: 

• Service through National service programs that provide a stipend (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) may count towards the Lifetime Achievement Award, but not for the annual Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards); 

• Travel stipends, transit/parking passes, membership passes, expense reimbursements, and other nominal volunteer support do not impact service eligibility. 

Eligible Service does not include: 

• Donating funds 

• Political lobbying (Non-partisan voter registration is an eligible activity)

• Religious instruction 

• Conducting worship service 

• Proselytizing 

• Volunteer service performed as part of court-ordered community service 

• Serving only family members

Hours Required to Earn Awards in Each Age Group: 

If your 16th birthday is on or before 5/31/Award Year (2023 or 2024), then you are in the Young Adults category. 

If your 16th birthday is after 5/31/Award Year (2023 or 2024), then you are in the Teens category. 

2. Download a pdf of both your training log and teaching logs. Note: Hours spent at monthly meetings and other BOBtutor-related meetings as well as time spent shadowing other tutors or leaders should be included in the training log; hours spent tutoring and preparing for tutoring sessions should be included in the teaching log. All time should be logged in minutes.

• First, log into your profile on bobtutor.org.

• Choose Timekeeping on the bottom left.

• Select "Teaching Log" and then choose your date range (e.g., August 1, 2023 - July 31, 2024 for a 2024 award) from the calendar on the upper right.

• Before you export the log into a pdf, make sure to choose "All" under "Show __ entries" on the upper left.

• Finally, click PDF to export your data.

• Follow these same steps to export your training log.

3. Make a copy of the BOBA PVSA form and complete all required information, including your total volunteer hours. 

• Refer to the Example Form sheet/tab for guidance on how to complete the form

• If you tutor in more than one BOBtutor branch, complete a separate line on the form for each branch

• Include volunteer hours you are claiming from organizations other than Build Our Bridge Academy on the form and obtain verification for those hours which includes your supervisor’s signature (you may use the Template for Other Organizations sheet/tab if your other organization does not provide its own form)

4. Ask the parent(s) of your branch Vice President(s) to sign your teaching log, training log, and the BOBA PVSA form, as the BOBtutor supervisor. The VP parent(s) will sign the logs at the bottom, next to the total hours. **Note: You must obtain the BOBtutor supervisor signatures for the training log, teaching log, and BOBA PVSA form by August 10, 2024.**

**Special instructions for tutors who tutor in more than one branch** 

You will need to obtain supervisor signatures from all of the branches in which you tutor. At the bottom of your training and teaching logs, indicate the number of hours you are requesting verification for from each branch so that the VP parents can see your hours from each branch.

5. Print out the BOBA PVSA form signed by the BOBtutor supervisor. You and your parent/guardian should sign and date it. 

6. Send all completed and signed documents to info.bobacademy@gmail.com, copying your branch VP(s), by August 13, 2024. For the email subject, please use the format “PVSA Application 2024 -- your name” (e.g., PVSA application 2024 -- Tom Li). Be sure to include the following documents, all combined into one pdf:

• Completed BOBA PVSA form signed by you, your parent, and the parent(s) of your branch VP(s)

• Signed BOBtutor teaching and training logs

• Verified service hours from any other organizations you are including in your PVSA application

A few notes:

Do not use the same hours to apply for PVSA at two different organizations. 

Build Our Bridge Academy will cover the application fee with the donations we receive. As we are a nonprofit organization, donations to support us would be greatly appreciated. To donate: 

• Use PayPal or Zelle to pay to info.bobacademy@gmail.com 

• Mail a check to: BOB Academy, 1807 Santa Rita Rd, STE H #209, Pleasanton, CA 94566 

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