The Berry/Kauffold Scholarship 2024
The Berry/Kauffold Scholarship is designed to help students further their music education. The purpose of our scholarship is to provide monetary incentives to musically talented high school students. The money can be used to purchase/lease new or upgraded instrument(s) or to offset expenses for band camp or for private instrumental instruction from a qualified teacher or program.
The award of scholarship support is based upon completion of the application and the recommendation forms and a two-to-five minute video/audio file.
Through this program, we will be awarding $2000 to deserving high school students in Michigan.
Our goal is to encourage long-term involvement in music performance and to make students aware of the opportunity to continue performance with a community music experience and to pursuing music education after high school.
In order to apply, Scholarship applicants must :
- Attend High School in the state of Michigan
or
be sponsored by a current Michigan District Optimist Club - Be in the ninth (9th) through eleventh (11th) grade
- Current members of their high school instrumental or orchestral music program.
Application and Reference Forms
are due by April 15, 2024
All applicants with complete applications will be on the status of his/her scholarship application process.
SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION OF AWARDS*
- Scholarships will be awarded during the Michigan District Optimists Third Quarter Conference in May.
Time and date TBD. - Should this award presentation be postponed or cancelled due to Covid 19, the award announcements will be made via USPS mail.
- Scholarship Awards will be made at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee and must be used by September 15, 2024. The decisions of the Scholarship Committee and Judges are final.
*If the Scholarship will be used for Private Lessons a Verification Log is required
The Private Lesson Verification Log is to be sent to the address listed below no later than October 1, 2024.
The award will be known to the recipient within thirty (30) days after the log has been received.
Payment will be made directly to the student thirty (30) days after the log has been received and verified .
Send Verification Log to:
Michelle Kauffold
8898 Longview Drive
Stanwood, MI 49346
If you have any questions, please contact the
Scholarship Committee Michigan District Optimist/Optimist International
Debra Berry
(ph)248/467-0592
(email) deb@debinparis.com
or
Michelle Kauffold
(ph) 313-510-6300
(email) newmichelle@att.net
MI JOI District News
MI JOI Summit Saturday
MIJOI Summit in Farmington Hills for Middle & High School
The Michigan District JOI clubs and members at the Costick Center this Saturday, May 10. This is geared toward Middle School and High School students. This is where we will elect new officers for the next school year. We will also make a video of our Community Service Project “Domino Cereal Boxes for Food Pantries”. We have guest speakers, one from Fleece and Thank You and our International JOI Board, Sri Balaji. Bring a lot of cereal boxes please.
📍 Location: Costick Center
28600 W 11 Mile Rd
Farmington Hills, MI 48336
🕘 Date & Time:
The convention will take place May 10, 2025, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
🎤 Running for a District Board Position?
If you are running for a 2025–2026 Michigan JOI Board position, please make sure to:
- Print and fill out the following form and bring it with you to the convention.
👉 District Board Form - Give your completed form to us when you walk in.
- Prepare a one-minute speech to present during elections.
- Elections will be conducted via Google Form voting during the event.
🏆 Want to recognize your club?
Nominate your club for the “Most Involved JOI Club” award by filling out this short form:
👉 Most Involved JOI Club Nomination
We’d love to celebrate the incredible work your club has done this year! If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to JOI Gov. Nuha Abdul Malik (joigovernor@MichiganOptimists.org).
OI JOI Summit 2025, St. Louis, MO, July 18-21
This international event, primarily for high school sophomores and juniors, is a 4-day event that brings together Jr. Optimists from across the country, Canada and Caribbean countries. They will witness the World Oratorical Championship, participate in O.I.JOI Elections, participate in Leadership Challenges & Team-Building Exercises, attend a Masked Ball and attend the final Banquet and Dance. The cost is a registration fee of $450 per person. This covers four nights’ accommodation in the dorms at Saint Louis University, 11 meals plus snacks, transportation to off-site activities, a Summit t-shirt and linen package for dorm. It will be one of those experiences of a lifetime! Our club has allocated 2 registration fees for students attending from our JOCs. We also will pay the registration fee which covers lodging and meals for a chaperone. All fees paid by reimbursement. Let Tom Neal know if you are interested by email at joi@MichiganOptimists.org.
Michelle Kauffold
Scholarship Committee