TA Program for 2024 - 2025 school year if FULL

NOTE: The TA Program is extremely popular thus we limit when registrations occur in order to help our team and the TA directors operate the program smoothly. TA Program signups occur ONLY in April for the following school year. 

TA Program Info

Being a TA helps give you opportunities to grow outside of the traditional classroom environment. Those who sign up for the program will be invited to our training events as well as invited to help out with any partner events (like Cupertino Earth Day festival) during the school year

The Presidential Service Award

The Hongyun Art Foundation is 501c3 registered non-profit. We are a certifying organization for Presidential Volunteer Service Awards. The PVSA is a national level award that requires consistent volunteering within the span of a year in order to earn the award. It’s quite prestigious to earn several awards in a row.

• The Hongyun Art Foundation counts service hours from the BEGINNING to the end of the Cupertino school year AND through the summer semester directly following the school year.

  • For example: for the 2022-2023 service year, we start counting your in-person TA, volunteer project, event, and camp leader service hours from the FIRST DAY of the Cupertino Union School District year in AUGUST 2022 through the last day of summer camps in AUGUST 2023.

  • You cannot adjust these dates. We only track by this schedule. You cannot combine service hours across multiple years to obtain an award per the rules of the PVSA.

    • For example: If you volunteer in the June 2022 for 10 hours and then volunteer in December 2023 for 10 hours, you will have 10 hours for the 2021-2022 service year and 10 hours for the 2022-2023 service year. These cannot be combined.

• We only certify for the GOLD award as this is the top award. The required hours per year vary by age. Please visit the PVSA website for the current number of service hours needed for your age group.

• We can accept certified hours from outside organizations but at least 75% of your service hours must be earned through the Hongyun Art Foundation in order for the Hongyun Art Foundation to certify your award.

• Students are responsible for tracking their own service hours. Hongyun Art keeps records for in-person TA for classes and camp but does not track hours for special projects or events (such as Earth Day Festival, mural projects, etc.). NOTE: You are responsible for keeping track of your own hours regardless of activity.

• Hours certification & submission happens in September of every year for the previous school year. You must be a current Hongyun Art students when certification occurs (ie if you earned your hours volunteering in the 2022-2023 school year but are not a Hongyun Art student in September 2023, we will be unable to certify your award.) When it is time to submit your hours in September, please keep a look out for the instructions and submit by the deadline. We cannot honor late submissions as we have to order the awards from PVSA all at once.

FAQ about TA

• When do I choose my schedule for in-person TA? We have 6 sprints through out the school year starting at the beginning of the school year. Each sprint is about 2 months long and you can pick your in-person TA time before each sprint begins. You’ll can choose your time for Sprint 1 in early August. More information will follow.

• Do I need to be a Hongyun Art student to be a TA? Yes. Only currently enrolled students for the full school year can be a TA. Summer TA and Camp Leaders need to have been enrolled in the previous full school year to be considered.

• Can I join TA midyear? Generally speaking, no. Since TA is a year round program, TAs should register during the TA Program Signup period in April for the FOLLOWING school year. We have over 100 TAs each year so it’s important to register at the correct time to help the TA Directors run the program smoothly.

• What are the qualifications for TA? Potential TAs must be at least in Lime Cloud 1 and have been a student at Hongyun Art for at least 2 semesters. Potential TAs must also be nominated by their teachers.

• How can I be a TA Director or the TA General Manger? TA Directors are the best of the best! The most dedicated, hard working, and responsive TAs are considered and chosen each year by the current TA Directors in April for the following school year. The TA General Manager is chosen from the pool of TA Directors by the outgoing TA General Manager in April of each year before they leave for college.