Scholarship. Character. Service.
Mailing Address: Central Office 28241 Crown Valley Parkway, Ste F 201 Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
CSF | AWARDS
Be ready to submit award nominations/applications:
- Look up your chapter number and your region here: https://csf-cjsf-hub.org/
- Verify your chapter is in good standing for Dues and Course Lists for 2024-2025 – CSF | Chapter Resources > CSF Active Chapters Annual Requirements
- Have the Publicity Release form signed and ready to upload.
Because awards are given by region, chapter number and region MUST be correct on all Award submissions!!! Award nominations and submissions with incorrect Region and/or Chapter number risk being disqualified.
Seymour Award | Michelson Award
Michelson Memorial Award
The Glenn Michelson Memorial Award was established in 2012 in memory of the late Glenn Michelson, past 20-year CSF adviser of Sequoia High School in Redwood City and past Board of Directors member who served as State President, CSF Registrar, Regional Vice-President, Historian, and Legislative Chair. He was a strong advocate of our CSF motto promoting community service. Upon his passing, Glenn bequeathed funds to CSF, and the Board of Directors voted to have an annual essay contest in Glenn’s honor open to high school CSF seniors who have a passion for service. The due date is December 22nd, Glenn’s birthday.
- All Junior and Senior CSF members may apply.
- Submissions will be accepted beginning: November 1st each year.
- Application deadline: 6 pm on December 22nd every year.
- Advisers: Chapter dues must be paid through 2024-2025 and course lists submitted prior to submitting essays.
- Writing Prompt and Application Guidelines
- Publicity Release Form
- Assessment Criteria
- Awards
- Past Recipients
- Questions?
2024 Writing Prompt
To apply, students must write an essay in response to this prompt:
Describe a volunteer experience you have had and its impact on you and your community.
Use the form on this page to submit essay no later than 6 pm on December 22nd.
Submission Guidelines
- 800 – 1000 words
- Please do not include your last name or school name in the essay
- Typed & double-spaced
- One entry per student
- Word or PDF files only.
- Name the file with your region-chapter number-lastname. Example: sc-1999-finet.pdf
Information you will need to provide when completing the application:
- An email address where we can contact you; please use a non-school email or your parent’s email.
- Your CSF Adviser’s name and email address.
- Your school Principal’s name and email address.
- Signed Publicity Release form.
Eligibility
The Michelson Award is available to all Juniors and Seniors who are members of a CSF chapter in good standing*.
Eligibility is NOT limited to Sealbearers.
*Chapter dues current 2024-2025 year. Course Lists submitted for 2024-2025 school year.
The winning essay will be selected by a committee comprised of California Scholarship Federation board members and CSF advisers. Essays will be evaluated on the basis of (1) relevance to the prompt and (2) quality of writing. Honesty and academic integrity will be expected of all submissions, and any occurrence of plagiarism is unacceptable. Failure to comply with any of the above rules will result in automatic disqualification.
The award recipient and his/her adviser will be notified by the selection committee by mid-February.
This $1,000 award is available to all juniors and seniors who are members of a CSF chapter in good standing. The award recipient and his/her adviser will be notified by the selection committee by mid-February.
2022-2023 Michelson Award Recipient
Weber Lin, Arcadia High School, Arcadia, Chapter 434, CSF Advisor Matthew Wong
2021-2022 Michelson Award Recipient
2020-2021 Michelson Award Recipient
Jack Tian, Troy High School, Fullerton, Chapter 786. CSF Adviser Roger Anderson
2019-2020 Michelson Award Recipient
Jasmine Kinney, Hoopa Valley High School, Hoopa, Chapter 381. Vicki Kurtz, Adviser; Jennifer Lane
2018-19 Michelson Award Recipient
Edward Tran, Gabrielino High School, Chapter 1170, CSF Adviser Ruth Esseln
2017-18 Michelson Award Recipient
Roselyn Romero, Channel Islands High School, Chapter 796, CSF Adviser Terrie Romines
If you need any assistance throughout the application process, please contact CSF Director of Technology at [email protected].
SUBMIT APPLICATION AND ESSAY
- The award submission form will be available below on November 1st.
- Complete your essay, save as a Word doc or PDF. Complete the application below and upload your essay document and signed Publicity Release form.
- Chapter number and region MUST be correct on award submissions!!! Award submissions with incorrect Region and Chapter number risk being disqualified. Click here to look up your chapter number region.
- An email confirmation of your entry will be sent to the email address you enter on the application form. Please us a personal email address – not a school email address as many schools block outside emails. If you do not receive the email confirmation, contact [email protected].
Seymour Memorial Awards
The Seymour Memorial Awards were established to honor both Charles F. Seymour and his devoted wife, Marian H. Seymour, who together supplied the inspiration and leadership which fostered the California Scholarship Federation. The very first award of $25 was presented to Seymour Award recipient Elizabeth Murphy (O’Neil) of Fresno High School in 1936. The Seymour Award is regarded as one of the highest scholastic honors given to high school students in the state of California.
- Students must be nominated by their CSF Adviser.
- Nominees must have earned Sealbearer status by the end of the first semester of their Senior year.
- Nominations open: January 1st.
- Nomination deadline: February 18th at 6pm, every year. Note: waiting until 5:59pm to hit the Submit button may result in disappointment.
- Student finalists must attend the Seymour Finalists Interviews in his or her region.
- Please note the good standing and eligibility criteria for a CSF adviser to submit a candidate for the Seymour Award: Dues current 2023-2024, Course lists submitted and approved for 2023-2024.
For advisers:
For nominees: Writing your Personal Statement
NOTE: Your nominees will be registered automatically for the region event activities: Seymour Interview, lunch and awards ceremony.
- Nomination Guidelines
- Eligibility
- Awards
- Selection Timeline
- Assessment Criteria
- Student Activities Exemplar
- Publicity Release Form
- Preparing Files for Upload
- Questions?
- Past Recipients
- Advisers must submit nominations electronically via the form which will be on this page by the February 18th at 6pm deadline. Paper nomination packets are not accepted.
NOTE: The portal is password-protected. Advisers were provided the password in the Fall Newsletter. To get the passwrod please send us a request ([email protected]) and include your school name for verification. Advisers should not share this password with nominees. If you have any difficulties using the online system, please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected] for assistance. - Nomination Materials: The adviser should assemble all of the following required materials for the chapter’s nominee(s). While an adviser may submit the chapter’s two nominees separately, it is not possible to save a nominee’s partial application to complete later. Please collect all of the following materials before accessing the portal to submit your nominee(s). Click on the tab to read PREPARING FILES FOR UPLOAD for details about naming documents.
- Nominee contact information: mailing address, phone, and email
- 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.
- List of nominee’s 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 - Nominee’s Personal Statement (PDF) – Limit to 2 double-spaced pages. Parts of this statement may be quoted at the spring conference.
- Two Recommendation Letters (PDF) – Limit each to 2 double-spaced pages. Parts may be quoted at the spring conference.
- CSF Adviser – Please address how your nominee has exemplified the CSF motto “Scholars for Service” in some or all of the following areas: the school environment, leadership, service to the community, and your CSF chapter. Help us understand his or her character. Make sure we know why you have nominated this student. Anecdotal evidence is often persuasive.
- Community Member – outside of school, not from a relative. This letter should focus on the nominee’s character and role in the community. It should be written by an adult who knows the nominee 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 the nominee and in what capacity.
- Publicity Release form
Advisers of active CSF chapters in good standing* are eligible to nominate one or two Senior students each year. Nominees must have earned Sealbearer **status by the end of the first semester of their Senior year.
*In order for the adviser to submit a Seymour candidate, 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 up to date for the current school year prior to submission of the Seymour application. Look up chapter dues and course lists status here https://csf-cjsf-hub.org/
**A student completing senior high school work in 5 or 6 semesters (not including grade 9) must earn CSF membership in at least 4 of the last 5 or 6 semesters; one of those semester memberships must be earned with senior grades.
Over $100,000 is awarded to a group of 50 graduating Sealbearers each year. Each spring, regional subcommittees of five advisers choose outstanding Life Members (Sealbearers) from among candidates nominated by their advisers by the February deadline within each of the five regions. Each year, 50 finalists receive awards of $2,000 each, and five of these (one per region) each receive an additional $3,000 as the regional award recipient. The Seymour Award is regarded as one of the highest scholastic honors given to secondary school graduates in the state of California.
Nomination Deadline: February 18th, every year.
Early March: Ten nominees from each of CSF’s 5 regions will be selected as finalists. Finalists and their advisers will be notified by email, and the names of finalists will be posted on our website and Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Each of these finalists will be awarded $2,000 (see NOTE below).
Throughout March/April: At each regional conference, the region’s ten finalists will be interviewed to select the recipient for the region. Each region’s recipient will receive an additional $3,000.
NOTE: If selected as a finalist, the student must attend the spring conference in his or her region and fully participate in the interview process on that day in order to receive any financial award. Finalists who are not able to attend the conference to participate in the interview process will forfeit their award.
Advisers: please verify your potential nominee’s availablity to attend the in person interview before nominating.
We will be looking for those Sealbearers who best personify the CSF motto, “Scholars for Service.” The selection is made on the basis of character, leadership, and service. Demonstrated excellence in both service and scholarship is key to a nominee’s selection.
Use this exemplar as a format for Student Activities List to be submitted with nomination.
Publicity Release form MUST be completed and uploaded with the nomination form.
The nomination form requires six files to be uploaded when completing the nomination form. Only Word and PDF files are acceptable.
Please name these files as follows:
- Nominee Transcript: nominee_last_name-transcript | Example: smith-transcript
- Nominee List of Activities: nominee_last_name-activities | Example: smith-activities
- Nominee Personal Statement: nominee_last_name-personal | Example: smith-personal
- Nominee Adviser’s Letter of Recommendation: nominee_last_name-adviser | Example: smith-adviser
- Nominee Community Letter of Recommendation: nominee_last_name-community | Example: smith-community
- Nominee Publicity Release Form: nominee_last_name-release (This form is available on the PUBLICITY RELEASE FORM tab.) | Example: smith-release
If you need any assistance throughout the nomination process, please contact CSF Director of Technology at [email protected]. We look forward to working with you.
SUBMIT NOMINATION AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
- Compile your supporting documents, saved as PDF. Complete the nomination form below and upload your documents and signed Publicity Release Form.
- Chapter number and region MUST be correct on award submissions!!! Award submissions with incorrect Region and Chapter number risk being disqualified.
Click here to look up your chapter number and region. - Successful submissions will return an onscreen message, and an email confirmation of your entry will be sent to the email address you enter on the application form. Check your spam/promotions folders. If you do not receive the email confirmation within an hour, contact [email protected].
The password was published in the Fall Advisers Newsletter and in several emails recently. Check your spam/promotions folders.
If you need the password, email [email protected].
