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Reach for The Stars

The council is continuing the Reach for the Stars initiative to showcase the district’s chapters who Strive for the Highest and Reach for the Stars! Each star represents a task that a chapter must complete to earn. At district convention, chapters who reach all five stars will be presented with the Stellar Chapter Award and will be featured on the website for 1 year.

Congrats to the following chapter on earning the Stellar Chapter Award for the 2022-2023 year!

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Zeta Phi
Tuskegee University

Appoint a District Liaison

Due October 1st

SED District Liaison Handbook

 

We know that chapter officers already have a lot of duties, and adding several District responsibilities can be overwhelming. To help, we encourage chapters to appoint a brother who is not an officer as their District Liaison. Each chapter’s District Liaison will serve as the main point of contact between the SED VPP and the chapter. The District Liaison will be the first point of contact concerning participation in Reach for the Stars (RFTS), and they will be the person in charge of filling out the Google form regarding completion of the following stars.

 

This year, we are providing a new RFTS tracker sheet called the 5 Star Chapter Tracker which will help you track your progress as you complete the RFTS program. There is space for you to write down what events you plan on submitting for each star, when to post SWAT content, and a goal tracker at the top which can be highlighted as completed. I hope you utilize this document to help organize your chapters projects and feel more comfortable going through the RFTS program!

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If your chapter does not appoint a District Liaison by October 1st, the Corresponding Secretary or President will serve in this capacity. Appointing a District Liaison does not fulfill any stars, but the position will still be used for communication related to the program.

Star 1 - Turn in All Paperwork and Dues on Time

Determined as of March 1st

This will be determined by the council before district convention by using the Online Membership and Reporting System. If there are questions about certain paperwork, individual chapters will be contacted.

Star 2 - Submit to The Eighth Note

Due March 1st

Your chapter must submit at least three photos and two pieces of content. This content can be an article, an interview, an opinion piece, or other types as approved by the Eighth Note Chair and VPP. This content must be publishable, so if the Eighth Note editor sends back your content with edits, you must make those changes and resubmit the piece before it counts towards this star.

Star 3 - Participate in Every Statewide-A-Thon

October, November, February & March

Statewide-A-Thon (SWAT) is a component of the Reach for the Stars program that was created to encourage states across the Southeast District to showcase how their chapters exhibit our pillars through their work. 

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Our first SWAT in October will highlight our Leadership. November is the Month of Musicianship, so we will be showcasing our district’s Musicianship. We will be sharing the Service our chapters complete in February, the Month of Service. Finally, we will celebrate our Brotherhood in March as we head into convention season and finish out the year. 

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To celebrate each of these initiatives, chapters will share relevant events for each SWAT on their social media using specific hashtags to gain credit. Please submit links to your social media posts using the SWAT Submission Form for each month. To help you plan for each Statewide-A-Thon month, guidelines have been posted below. Participate in all four SWATs to fulfill this star.

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October SWAT Guidelines 2023

November SWAT Guidelines 2023

February SWAT Guidelines 2023

March SWAT Guidelines 2023

Star 4 - Complete 3 Musical Service Events in the Community

Due March 1st

Our musical talents and skills can impact the community beyond our school. Musical service involves music directly in some way. By completing musical service, we can help promote the existence and welfare of our college and university bands. 

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Events that fall in this category:

  • Volunteering at a high school, middle school, or elementary band program

  • Playing at an assisted living home or at community events

  • Holiday caroling at local hospitals

  • Assisting at events for musical organizations such as A Gift for Music, Bands of America

  • And many others!

Events that do NOT fall in this category:

  • Helping with concert setups

  • Assisting your band with football gameday

  • Other physical/logistical service where music is not directly involved

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Once all three are completed, your District Liaison must fill out the Star 4 Submission Form, which requires a paragraph explaining what the events were, how many brothers were involved, and any other info you wish to include. Additionally, a photo of the brothers at each event must be attached to the email. Please contact the SED VPP if you are unsure about whether an event counts as musical service!

Star 5 - Submit a Combination of 3 Workshops and Brotherhood Events

Due March 1st

Workshops can include any presentations or integrated discussions that are held within a chapter about topics such as service, leadership, musicianship, or other chapter operations.

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Brotherhood events can include any events that focus on building the bonds of brotherhood such as team-building, leadership activities, social events that focus on communication, or events that work on the relationships of brothers in a chapter.

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Once your chapter has completed three workshops or brotherhood events, please fill out the Star 5 Submission Form. This requires a description of the events, a link to the presentations or detailed notes (if the event was a workshop), what values or lessons you hoped to gain or what you feel the actual takeaway was, and photos and the dates of the events that were held.

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For this star, you may do a combination of workshops and brotherhood events, as long as three events total are completed. 

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