Part of The Bird on Fire’s What’s in the News

By 8th-Grade Blogger Soleil Antle

This spring semester our Palm Valley students put in their application for CSF (California Scholarship Federation) and CJSF (California Junior Scholarship Federation). These are our state secondary-school honor societies. It is our second year of CJSF, which is only for 7th and 8th graders, and our 28th year of CSF, which is for grades 9th through 12th. The application process is different for both, but, for both, it is based off their academic grades. 

For CJSF, students must meet the following guidelines to qualify: 

“Honor students qualify based on CJSF state rules. For spring-semester qualification, Fall semester grades are used. Students must earn twice the number of points than courses in which they are enrolled. No points are earned for P.E., a repeated course, or work experience. An “A” is  worth 3 points, a “B” 1. Two weighted grades are allowed. No “D” or “F” grades.”

csf-cjsf.org

This semester’s CJSF members include 8th graders Sami Alnabelsi, Sarah Alnabelsi, Soleil Antle, Julian Berumen, Sophia Bottine, Peter Collier, Mason Conway, Emerson Dunn, Millie Flemings, Silvanita Garcia, Emerson Kaminsky, Jaxon Pacilio, Jackie Pretorius, Maxwell Pretorius, Benjamin Rouche, Ivana Vega, and Calum Webster and 7th graders Cleo Antle, Miller Bacal, Daniel Bagheri, Greenlee Bartley, Cash Brasfield, Mark Huber, Lina Kakoussian, Reagan Kaminsky, Mikel Lomsky, Roman Magallanes, Remington Rice, Savannah Sanchez, and Logan Sanders. 

For CSF qualification in the Upper School . . .

“Students earn a membership in CSF if they apply and have earned 10 points. Points are earned on grades from the previous semester according to the following scale. 

A = 3 CSF  points 

B = 1 CSF point 

C = 0 CSF points 

D or F in any course, even if not counted for CSF, disqualifies the student from membership.

*Students earn 1 extra point for an A or a B in an AP, IB or Honors-designated course, not to exceed two such points per semester. 

*Academic courses are prioritized first, then elective courses. Only five courses may be used.” (csf-cjsf.org)

Keep in mind that courses such as P.E., teacher assistant, office aide, or repeated courses do not earn any CSF points. Poor citizenship may also disqualify students from membership. 

This semester’s CSF members and associate members include Isolde Junge, Matteo Lam, Oliver Martinez, Gabe Rodriguez-Portugues, Elijah Berliner, Rylie Conway, Zander Eaton, Leah Ferreira, Shayan Habibipour, Shibo “Tom” Hong, Ace Mendoza, Olivia Puetz, Lousia Richardson, Evan Wang, Phillip Pip Watson, John Webster, Moses Gizaw, Zoey Guess, Lincoln Johnson, Steven Liu, and Sam West. 

As you can see, it is challenging to become an honor-society member, so it’s important we congratulate all the students who have qualified!