First CSF meeting of the 22-23 school year eager to incorporate new innovations to the club

By: Donya Hassanshahi

The 22-23 CSF officer team and new advisor reflect on the recent meeting, upcoming events, and innovations for the club.

Last Thursday August 18th, Redwood’s California Scholarship Federation club, known as CSF, held their first meeting of the school year in the Annie R. Mitchell Library. The club’s new advisor, Mrs. Nicole Vieira, and new officer team were introduced to members and attending freshmen.

This informational meeting covered officer introductions, CSF officer Homecoming nominations, established a modernized club application process, covered questions regarding credit transfer for COS courses, and discussed eligibility criteria to acquire a lifetime memberships.

Unlike previous years, the CSF club is utilizing Google Forms for registration. Students are able to submit their applications during the membership drive Monday August 22nd through Friday August 26th digitally.

The five dollar fee for registration can be paid with Vieira in room 208 or with the finance center, but Vieira will need the receipt to adequately acknowledge the payment.

If a student is more comfortable with a traditional paper form, they will be available in Vieira’s room, but will need to be transferred to the online forum by the individual.

If COS courses were taken during the spring semester, an additional COS transcript will need to be submitted along with the student’s Redwood transcript from the last semester. Courses taken at COS do not count as AP or honors classes when calculating eligibility.

The officer team for this year includes President Kylie Schieferle, ’23 and Vice President Leena Aziz, ’23, Secretary Daniela Palma, ’23, and Treasurer Eliza Howard, ’23. Natalie Nelson, ’24 and Jacquelyn Alexander, ’24 take the role of junior associates.

Former Junior Associate Schieferle says she “looks forward to serving the community and serve [her] school in a new way that [she] has never gotten to before, as she takes the role of President. She says her newfound responsibility for the club has given her the chance to implement the practice of leadership skills.

In preparation for the first meeting, Schieferle says that it took the officer team about a week and a half to plan. “We met up a few times before the school year to get acclimated to what we wanted to do this year and also set up for the T-shirt design,” she adds.

Similar to Schieferle, Aziz was a former junior associate for the club last year. “We [Schieferle and Aziz] had to watch the former President and Vice President, so now I am now a senior and I get to be the Vice President, I have to take on a lot more responsibility.”

In consideration of the hard work implemented over the summer for the club, Aziz says that “[she] thinks [her] and Kylie, and the rest of the team, work really great together.”

She holds high hopes in regards to the community service opportunities the club will be offering this year. “I’m also excited about how CSF has a lot of representation in school; I’m excited to be able to reward our students, especially our seniors during graduation,” she adds.

Although Palma was not an officer last year, her years of CSF involvement as a member has prepared her for the role of Secretary. After acquainting with the team last school year and discussing plans for this year over summer, she says that her job as secretary consists of “[her] going to TA for Mrs. Vieria so that I can help with any paperwork or stuff that needs to get done before we have our meetings, so that when we all get together we’re prepared.”

Palma is excited for the club’s involvement with community service and charity events, such as collaborating with a local charity that participates in building the homeless homes.

As treasurer, Howard contributes to the officer team in order to accommodate the President and Vice President. She looks forward to “contributing to our community with [CSF] community service projects”.

Nelson says her job as a junior associate is to “watch Kylie, Leena, Eliza, and Dani and see how they lead the club and learn for how next year will go.” This semester, “[she’s] been trying to watch and learn, talking in meetings and about how we can include all the grades,” Nelson adds.

Nelson says she is looking forward to planning her community service project during the spring semester.

Alexander was appointed a junior associate alongside Nelson. When addressing the previous lunch meeting, Alexander says that though she was absent, “It was super nice to work with Mrs. Vieira and the other girls and just plan for the great year we’re going to have. I feel very honored to be in this position from last year just being a member to now.”

Considering this is the first meeting that Vieira has officiated as acting advisor, she says that the utilization of the library and attendance numbers were good.

In regards to future meetings, her goals for this year consist of “working with the kids.It’s a good group and [she] hopes to expand membership and reach students that maybe didn’t know about CSF or didn’t think that they could still apply.”

Although freshmen are not yet able to become a CSF member during the first semester, all students are welcome to attend upcoming meetings.

Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors interested in upholding their status as an active member must submit their application by downloading their last semester transcript and visiting the google form link that can be found on their Instagram handle @rhscsf.

For further updates regarding monthly meetings and community service opportunities, the club remains active on both Instagram and Remind (@rhscsf2223). In addition to these media outlets, CSF will have a Minga class available for members.

Tags: club officers, clubs, clubs & lifestyles, CSF, Donya Hassanshahi, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, rhs, visalia ca