ALBANY COUNTY, N.Y. — The schools of the Watervliet City School District and Cohoes City School District are now able to provide “Passport for Good.”
According to a news release, the app is a software solution that captures community engagement for students, schools and community organizations, as a resource for their students, enabling them to create customized portfolios of their engagement in school clubs and events and the service they provide as volunteers in their community.
Officials noted that the app also documents dozens of school requirements for experience outside the classroom, including community service, career, and technical education and project-based learning.
Passport for Good is a web and mobile app that supports the whole student by encouraging and easily capturing community service, career development and participation in school and personal activities, according to the release.
Officials said thanks to the app students are now able to build a non-academic transcript of their engagement hours, obtain electronic verification of the hours, and export their non-academic transcript for class/graduation requirements and college applications/scholarships.
For schools, officials said the use of Passport for Good saves time, eliminates paper tracking, and provides them with data on student engagement they have not had before. Schools can purchase the software through BOCES and receive state aid and support to successfully implement the service.
“Cohoes High School is committed to preparing all students to be college-, career- and citizen ready,” Bryan Wood, Cohoes High School principal, said in the release.
“With the help of Passport for Good, students will be able to exhibit how they volunteer and give back to their school and community as they prepare to be successful, productive young adults,” Wood added.
“Passport for Good allows us to streamline the tracking process for community service, volunteer hours and extracurricular participation for our students,” Watervliet City School District Superintendent Dr. Lori Caplan, said in the release.
“This is essential data for our students to have access to, especially with more colleges and businesses looking for leadership and responsible citizenship experiences in addition to strong academic record during the admissions or hiring process,” Caplan added.
Gayle Farman, founder and president of Passport for Good, said, “It is exciting that the value we are providing for the whole student and for a positive school climate is being recognized by districts across New York State. Using Passport for Good, will enable the schools to measure the impact their students and the districts are having on the community and will assist students as they prepare for college or a career and their roles as responsible citizens of their communities.”