How to Join the CSF/CJSF Board of Directors – Zoom on February 6th

Jan 25, 2025

Virtual Workshop on Zoom: Joining the State Board – Candidacy and Elections
Thursday, February 6th at 5pm
Learn how you can be a part of the future of California Scholarship Federation & California Junior Scholarship Federation.

Register to join the Zoom meeting:

Candidacy Forms

CSF: https://forms.gle/QGahhGHbPEMF6PDn8

CJSF: https://forms.gle/fXnMkKBEr3Wrgpcb8

Maintaining a dynamic and engaged board of directors is important to any organization. CSF and CJSF need to bring new people with fresh ideas and energy to the board. You could be someone who contributes to the future of CSF and CJSF!

CSF and CJSF seek new board candidates each year. Please consider putting your yourself up as a candidate for one of the positions open for 2025-2027. Or suggest it to someone you know who could contribute to the mission of CSF and CJSF.

Find out more about becoming a candidate and a member of the state board on February 6th at 5pm on Zoom. Current Advisers will be sent an email with the Zoom link. Check your spam folders if you don’t see it in your Inbox. Email [email protected] for the Zoom link.

Duties of Officers and Board Members
Board members are expected to attend in person two board meetings a year.
CSF covers travel, hotel, meals, and allowed expenses.

President-Elect – Candidates must have served on CSF/CJSF Board for at least 1 year.

  • Act as President when the President is absent or incapacitated.
  • Become familiar with the responsibilities of the President.
  • Oversee annual elections.
  • Act as Chairperson of Legislation: Receive/review proposed amendments to the CSF State Constitution and Bylaws; notify Board of any proposed legislation which may affect scholarships and the purpose of CSF.
  • Serve as a voting member on the CSF state board and attend in person two board meetings each year.

Secretary

  • Take minutes at Board of Directors meetings.
  • Send copies of board meeting minutes to the Board and maintain meeting minutes so they are available to the Board.
  • Act as Corresponding Secretary for the Board.
  • Serve as a voting member on the CSF state board and attend in person two board meetings each year.

Treasurer

  • Disburse funds.
  • Arrange with bookkeeper for annual compilation by a professional accountant.
  • Make a financial report at the annual meeting.
  • Serve as Chair of the Budget Committee.
  • Serve as a voting member on the CSF state board and attend in person two board meetings each year.

CJSF Vice Presidents – You may be asked to serve in a region outside your chapter region.

  • Act as liaisons between CSF and CJSF.
  • To serve on the regional conference organizing committee.
  • To serve as a voting member of the CSF State Board and attend in person two board meetings each year.
  • Maintain regular communications with the advisers in the region, serving as their liaison with the state board.
  • Submit an annual report to the President.
  • Contact any inactive or delinquent chapters in the region.
  • Encourage affiliation of eligible schools within the region.
  • Serve as a voting member on the CSF state board and attend in person two board meetings each year.

 

CSF Advisers Virtual Seymour Awards Workshop – January 16th at 5pm

Jan 8, 2025

CSF Advisers – Virtual Workshop – Awards
January 16, 2025 | 5-6pm
Focus: Award nominations, Membership Drives, Dues, New Advisers
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/93876514650

Join members of the Seymour Committee and CSF Board to learn about the Seymour Awards, how to nominate one or two CSF Senior Sealbearers, tips on selecting nominees from your chapter as well as getting and organizing the required documentation.

No need to register, just join us at 5pm on January 13th.

Steps to nominate for the CJSF Huhn Award

Jan 4, 2025

Nominations open November 15th and are open through February 25th every year.
Note: The nomination form will be open until 6pm. Don’t wait until 5:59pm to hit the submit button, you risk losing out.

CJSF Advisers are encouraged to nominate one or two 7th or 8th grade CJSF members for the Marian Huhn Memorial Award.

Get started – Identify one or two 7th and 8th grade CJSF members you want to nominate and find out if they will be able to attend the Region Conference in the Spring. Check the Calendar for the dates. All nominees must attend your region conference and participate in the Huhn Award Workshop. Once you have established that they will be able to attend you can move forward collecting the materials needed for the nomination.

Nominee Requirements
Ask your nominees to provide these materials to you. Give them a due date enough in advance to allow yourself time to make the nomination deadline.

  1. Parent contact information including telephone, email and mailing address.
  2. Service & Awards (PDF or Word) – This is a single document (not limited to one page) with the following category headings. List items using bullet points. Include degree and length of involvement. Only list items that have occurred in 7th & 8th grade but include previous years if activity has continued into 7th & 8th (eg. played AYSO soccer from 3rd grade to present).
     – CJSF Service & Activities
     – Academic Awards & Activities
     – School Service & Activities
     – Community Service & Activities
  3. Nominee’s Personal Statement (PDF or Word) – One typed page double-spaced, signed by the nominee. The Personal Statement should give the selection committee insight into the nominee’s character, interests, hobbies, and goals for the future. Do not include photographs.
  4. Publicity Release form signed by a parent or guardian.

Adviser Requirements

  1. Write the CJSF Adviser Letter (PDF or Word) – One page letter signed by the advisor. This letter should help the committee to gain insight into the nominee’s intellectual and emotional maturity, reaction to criticism and disappointment, leadership capacity or organizational skills, sense of humor, integrity, concern for others, willingness to serve, and creativity. Support generalities with specific anecdotal evidence whenever possible. The committee will already be familiar with the nominee’s academic and activity records.
  2. Gather all of the nomination materials in a folder on your computer. The nomination form requires four files to be uploaded when completing the nomination form. Only Word and PDF files are acceptable.
    Name these files as follows:
     – Nominee Service & Awards: nominee_last_name-service | Example: tyler-service.pdf or Tyler-service.docx
     – Nominee Personal Statement: nominee_last_name-personal | Example: tyler-personal.pdf or Tyler-personal.docx
     – Nominee Adviser’s Letter of Recommendation: nominee_last_name-adviser | Example: tyler-adviser.pdf or Tyler-adviser.docx
     – Nominee Publicity Release Form: nominee_last_name-release | Example: tyler-release.pdf or Tyler-release.docx
  3. Complete the nomination form and upload the documents one at a time. Nomination form: https://csf-cjsf.org/cjsf-awards/

CJSF DiGiovanna Award Essay Contest is open until January 13th

Jan 3, 2025

CJSF membership does not require community service but it is strongly encouraged. Many chapters give extra recognition for participating in service activities. If you are a CJSF member who gives back to your community, tell us about it, and compete for a $100 award at the same time. There will be one award given in each region.

This essay contest is in memory of Joanna DiGiovanna, an enthusiastic teacher and CJSF Adviser, and a volunteer on the State Board of Directors. This is a great opportunity for CJSF members to write and share about their community service activities. Your community begins with your family and spreads out from there.

To apply, students must write an essay in response to this prompt:

“CJSF prides itself on service to communities. Tell us how your service experiences impacted you, your school and community.”

Previous DiGiovanna Award Essay Contest winners have written about:

  • Joining Earth Club and learning to care about and care for the local environment.
  • Bringing music to residents of an assisted living center by playing the piano monthly.
  • Volunteering at an elementary school robotics club.

The DiGiovanna Award Essay Contest is open to all students who are members of a CJSF chapter in good standing.

Get all the details and submit your essay and application on https://csf-cjsf.org/cjsf-awards/. The contest closes at 6pm on January 13th, be sure to allow yourself time to submit your entry in advance of 6pm!

Get ready to nominate for the Seymour Award

Jan 1, 2025

ADVISERS: RECOGNIZE CSF SEALBEARERS FOR THEIR ACADEMIC AND SERVICE EXCELLENCE.

Nominations open January 1st every year.
Seymour nominations are open through February 18th every year.
Note: The nomination form is open until 6pm. If you wait until 5:59pm to hit the submit button you risk losing out.

Advisers of CSF chapters in good standing may nominate one or two Sealbearers for this award. The chapter must have CSF Course Lists I, II and III approved by the Registrar for the current school year, and state dues must be received for the current school year prior to submission of the Seymour application. Check your chapter status using the reports on https://csf-cjsf-hub.org/

Get ready to nominate.

    1. Make a list of the CSF Senior Sealbearers you believe most closely meet the requirements (see https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-awards/ for details). You may nominate 2 Sealbearers for the Seymour Awards.
    2. Notify your candidates and verify they are able to participate in the mandatory in-person Seymour interview for your region (view Calendar).
      Ask your candidates to provide the necessary documents for the nomination form.
      Give them a deadline at least several weeks before the award nomination period closes so that you are not rushed.
    3. Prepare nomination materials.
      You will need to write a letter for your nominee(s). Think about what you will say about each candidate. (See https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-awards/ ELIGIBILITY tab for details)
      In addition to your letter your nominees must provide you with the following information and materials:

       

      • Student contact information: Mailing address, phone, non-school email address.
      • Nomination materials needed:
        High school transcript
        List of activities
        Personal statement
        Adviser letter of recommendation
        Community letter of recommendation
        Publicity Release form
    4. Review the SAMPLE Seymour nomination form to be sure you have all required information and documents. You will not be able to start the form and save it to return later.
    5. Complete the nomination form and upload the required documents here.
      * Make sure you have your chapter number and region correct! Look up your chapter number and region here.

*  Please help us process nominations efficiently by properly naming files for upload – checkout PREPARING FILES FOR UPLOAD tab.
The file names should begin with the last name of your nominee. Example: cordova-transcript.pdf.

The nomination forms require passwords which were provided to advisers in the Fall President’s Bulleting, and a recent email.
Email [email protected] if you need the password.

Thank you for taking the time to nominate an outstanding Senior Sealbearer!

Quick Tips to Write Your Seymour Nominee Personal Statement

Jan 1, 2025

Has your adviser expressed an interest in nominating you for the Seymour Memorial Award?

If not, you may want to approach your adviser and ask to be considered for the nomination.

It’s an honor to be nominated for this award and a lot of effort on the part of your adviser to complete the nomination requirements. Advisers may nominate no more than two students each year.

There are a few requirements to be eligible:

  1. Nominees must be Sealbearers by the end of the first semester of senior year.
  2. Nominees must attend the mandatory Seymour Interview for their region. See Calendar for dates.
  3. A member of a CSF chapter in good standing for the current academic year.

…and responsibilities:

You must write a Personal Statement to be submitted with the nomination.

What is a Personal Statement?
The Seymour Committee is interested in specifics about how your background, family life and viewpoints have made you the person you are. In general, do not include data available from other materials in this application, but we are very interested in your experiences with CSF and Community Service (not just with CSF) in your community. This statement should not just be a copy of a college statement, but it may be similar, and does need to include specific information about community service and your leadership role(s). Limit to 2 double-spaced pages PDF. Parts of your personal statement may be quoted at the Celebration of Awards.

Provide your adviser with your contact information: mailing address, phone, and a non-school/district email. We need to be able to email you so make sure it’s an email address that can receive email from outside your school/district.

List of your activities (PDF) – presented in this order:

CSF membership by grade level and semester
CSF offices held, note grade level
CSF activities by grade level and semester
Non-CSF offices & activities
Academic awards & recognitions
Employment

Recommendation Letter from a Community Member

This person must be outside of school, and not a relative. This letter should focus on your character and role in the community. It should be written by an adult who knows you well outside of the school environment. Persuasive letters have been written by supervisors of volunteer or paid work, community service club advisers, neighbors, religious leaders, etc. The writer should include how long he or she has known you and in what capacity. Limit to 2 double-spaced pages (PDF). Parts of this letter may be quoted at the Celebration of Awards.

High school transcript (PDF) – Must include first semester senior grades. The transcript should also show any classes taken off-campus for which the nominee has received credit.

CSF Publicity Release – Seymour Award.

Get these materials to your adviser as soon as possible. Do not wait until the last minute and risk missing the deadline of 6 pm on February 18, 2021. Give yourself and your adviser a few weeks lead time for a low stress experience.

California Scholarship Federation
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