TBS MWD Awards Packet: 2024-2025

Tau Beta Sigma Midwest District Convention
Awards Packet 2024-2025

Chapter: _________________________________

School:__________________________________

Applications prepared by:_______________________________

Guidelines for the 2025 Convention Awards:

- All individual nominees and Chapters must be in good standing with National Headquarters.

- Only Active members are eligible.
- All required paperwork for each award and the application must be turned in on time or the application will not be considered. All applications are due by Sunday, March 16th, 2025 by 11:59pm CST.
- Submissions must be made in PDF format.
- The Chapter President and Chapter Sponsor must sign all applications or the application will not be accepted. In the event that the Chapter President is being nominated for an award, the Chapter Vice President may sign the application for the President. Signature of the Sponsor is still required.
- Each application shall be for only one nominee. If you are nominating more than one Sister for an award, please fill out a separate application for each individual (NOT AN ENTIRELY SEPARATE AWARDS PACKET). Please limit your nominations to no more than two Sisters for each award.
- When a letter(s) of recommendation is required, please have writer(s) of recommendation letters use the nominee’s name as little as possible, as this will be reviewed anonymously. It is strongly encouraged to eliminate the use of a nominee’s name unless it proves necessary.

- Note that Letters of Recommendation may be written by other members of the Chapter besides solely your Chapter Sponsor or DOB. Executive board members, fellow Sisters, or members of the community affected by Chapter projects are also able, and encouraged, to write letters of recommendation.
- Although Chapters may nominate themselves for any/all awards each year, please do not nominate an individual Sister for any award that they have received in a previous year.

- Applications in which the recipient receives a monetary award will be denoted by $$$ symbols.

Link to Powerpoint

The award recipients are decided by the Midwest District Council, District Counselors, and National Leadership Team Members.

Please check all applications that your Chapter has included in this submission, and note the number of applications being submitted for each:

_______ American Beauty Red Rose Award

_______ Outstanding New Sister Award

_______ Art of Music Award

_______ Unique Fundraiser Award

_______ Adrienne Olin Rall Award for the Unsung Hero

*The TBSigma MWD VPM will determine the award winner for the Membership Drive Award. This award is based on the percentage of membership growth each Chapter had throughout the year. Two of these awards will be presented: one to Chapters under twenty members and one to Chapters of more than twenty members. All Chapters will be included automatically.*

Award applications (PDF) and questions may be sent to: mwdvpsp@tbsigma.org

If you have any issues or questions, please do not hesitate to contact Reece Watson, TBS MWD VPSP:
Cell #: (618)972-5913

Email: mwdvpsp@tbsigma.org

Tau Beta Sigma Midwest District 2023-2024

American Beauty Red Rose Awards

$$$
The American Beauty Red Rose Awards were created to provide outstanding Sisters with financial assistance to attend the Midwest District Convention for their first or final time as an Active member by paying for the recipient’s Convention registration.
To nominate a Sister(s) from your Chapter, please fill out the following form:

Name of Nominee:_______________________________________

Chapter/School:_________________________________________

Date of Initiation: ___________ Year in School:___________________

Major(s) & Minor(s):_____________________________________

Will this be their first TBS/KKY Midwest District Convention? If not, how many District conventions have they attended and where?

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Please complete both parts of the application.

Part 1: Involvement Essay

Please discuss the following in essay form:
Why does your Chapter feel this award is important to our District?
How has this Sister contributed to Tau Beta Sigma?
Why do the members of your Chapter believe this Sister is worthy of the American Beauty Red Rose Award?
Part 2: Signatures

This application is not complete without the approval of your Chapter President and Sponsor. Once they have read and approved this application, please have them sign and date below. Absence of one or both signatures will void this application.

__________________________________________________________________________ Chapter President Date

__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Sponsor Date

Midwest District of Tau Beta Sigma 2023-2024

Outstanding New Sister Award

$$$
This award recognizes an outstanding Sister of the Midwest District of Tau Beta Sigma who was initiated after the previous year’s Convention and prior to this year’s Convention.
To nominate a Sister(s) from your Chapter, please fill out the following form:

Name of Nominee:_______________________________________

Chapter/School:_________________________________________

Date of Initiation: ___________ Year in School:___________________

Please complete both parts of the application.

Part 1: Involvement Essay

Please discuss the following in essay form:

Why this Sister joined Tau Beta Sigma.

This Sister’s Chapter involvement.

A situation in which this Sister has exemplified the ideals of Tau Beta Sigma.

This essay should be on behalf of the chapter.
Part 2: Signatures

__________________________________________________________________________ Chapter President Date

__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Sponsor Date

Midwest District of Tau Beta Sigma 2023-2024

Art of Music Award

Outstanding Service to Music in the Community
To nominate your Chapter, please fill out the following form:

Chapter:___________________School:_____________________

Please complete the following to complete the application.
Part 1: Music Activities in the Community Essay

Please describe how your Chapter has served the community through music over the course of the past year.

Be specific and denote activities as separate or joint with the Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi.

Activities may include but are not limited to, working with local schools, Girl Scout troops, or other community organizations in a musical manner.

Coda and Crescendo projects may count for this award.
Part 2: Letters of Recommendation (2)

Please include letters of recommendation from the following:

The Chapter Sponsor

An individual from the program your Chapter partnered with.
Part 3: Signatures

__________________________________________________________________________ Chapter President Date

__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Sponsor Date

Midwest District of Tau Beta Sigma 2023-2024

Unique Fundraiser Award
To nominate your Chapter, please fill out the following form:

Chapter:___________________School:_____________________

Fundraiser:____________________________

Please complete the following to complete the application.
Part 1:Essay

Your Chapter must have completed a unique fundraiser that has not been used within your Chapter in the last 2 years.

Describe in a brief essay what your Chapter fundraiser was and how it was unique. Describe how you developed it, how successful it was, who participated, who it benefited, and one piece of advice for other Chapters on achieving this fundraiser .

The amount of money raised does not impact award eligibility.

This essay should be written by a chapter member.

Part 2: Signatures

__________________________________________________________________________ Chapter President Date

__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Sponsor Date

Tau Beta Sigma Midwest District 2023-2024
Adrienne Olin Rall Award for the Unsung Hero

$$$
This award was created in honor of Adrienne Olin Rall, counselor of the Midwest District of Tau Beta Sigma from 2010-2015, and Past National President. During her time in Tau Beta Sigma, she has quietly been a strong presence to the Organization, going above and beyond behind the scenes to help Tau Beta Sigma excel. True to her spirit, applicants should excel both academically and in Tau Beta Sigma, showing selfless service, commendable dedication, and undying love for their future profession, as well as Sisters and Brothers in the Bond.

To nominate a Sister(s), please fill out the following form:

Name of Nominee:_______________________________________

Chapter/School:_________________________________________

Date of Initiation: ___________ Year in School:___________________

Applicants for this award are required to be a junior or senior (by credits), as well as have at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA, be an Active member in good standing, and complete all parts of this application.

Part 1: Academics

Include an unofficial transcript to verify a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5.

Part 2: Resume

Include a resume focusing on your involvement in Chapter activities, extracurricular involvement, and community service.

Part 3: Recommendation

Obtain and submit a letter of recommendation from a current or previous professor.

Part 4: Essay

Answer the following questions in no more than four pages:
1. How active are you in your Chapter? Cite examples.
2. How have you been supportive of your Sisters?

3. How have you upheld her challenges as stated in the excerpt below?
4. What would your next challenge be for the District delegation?

Read the excerpt from Adrienne’s final report given at the 2015 MWD Convention and answer questions 3 & 4 from above:

“Finally, to the Sisters of the Midwest District as a whole – I will never be able to thank you enough for the opportunity to be your Counselor. As I said before, it truly is the best gig in all of Tau Beta Sigma, and while I am so sad to leave it behind I know that you all love and support this journey I just embarked on. I have learned so much from each and every one of you, past and present, and I don’t think that I will ever be able to repay those lessons enough. But, I am going to try to start, so here are some pieces of advice and charges that I will leave you with this final time.”

Meet and get to know your Sisters from throughout this District because they are some of the most compassionate and caring people in the world. There is no friendlier place than the Midwest, and making lifelong friends in your Sisters now will help you in every aspect of life. I charge you in the next 3-4 hours to find at least 10 new Facebook friends. Then, keep in touch with them throughout this next year. Who knows? Maybe you will find your Leslie or Adrienne.
When life gets a little hard, remember to breathe, lean on those who love you unconditionally, and remember that this too shall pass. Everything in life is so fleeting and even the hardest moments will lift away eventually. When life gets hard and you feel like you have nowhere to turn, know that each and every one of you have someone who loves you forever and always no matter what, and they are probably sitting in this room. If all else fails you call, text or FB me. I will be there for you too.
Sometimes when the universe slams a door in your face, it opens a window… you just have to find it. This is one of the hardest life lessons I have had to learn, and I am by no means an expert at remembering that it’s true. But, I promise, it is – Sometimes that window is just really good at playing hide and go seek. Refer to number two and then go on an adventure to find it.
Strive to live by the 8 and the 5 every single day of your life. It makes your life so much more pleasurable and, at times, tolerable when you are focusing on living up to the highest of moral standards. It’s not going to be easy, and you will probably make a mistake every day (I know that I do), but the fact that you are trying is enough to make a little difference in someone’s day, and eventually, all of those little differences for others turn into big differences for yourself.
Lastly, I want to leave you with what I tell my color guards every time they go to a competition or performance. Control what you can in your life, and let the rest fall as it may. Unfortunately, we can’t control a lot of what happens in life, good or bad. But, we can control how we react to it and how we conduct ourselves around it and that is what truly makes us who we are and who people perceive us to be. It’s what builds our character, in case you haven’t already guessed, it is, in my opinion, the best and hardest part about living the 8 and 5. I don’t know that any of us will ever feel that we master letting go of that which we can’t control, but it’s good to practice it every single day.

Part 5: Signatures

__________________________________________________________________________ Chapter President Date

__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Sponsor Date

Awards Checklist

(This page does not need to be turned in - it is for your own reference)

All parts of the awards packet are due March 16th by 11:59 pm CST.

American Beauty Red Rose Award

___ Essay

___ Signatures

Outstanding New Sister Award

___ Essay

___ Signatures

Art of Music Award

___ Essay

___ 2 Letters of Recommendation

___ Signatures

Unique Fundraising Award

___ Essay

___ Signatures

Adrienne Olin Rall Award for the Unsung Hero

___ Academics

___ Resume

___ Letter of Recommendation

___ Essay

___ Signatures