The ACHS Senior Beta Club just completed a Voyage of Adventure to Biloxi, MS with TWO (2) State Championships!
This year, 22 Golden Bear Beta Club members attended the 2024 Mississippi State Beta Club Convention. This was a great experience for the students and sponsors. “As the largest, independent, educational youth organization in America, National Beta emphasizes our four pillars (service, character, leadership, achievement) by providing opportunities and experiences to impact our members, their schools, and communities across the world.”
This year, the club competed in a variety of different events ranging from accessorized design and jewelry to musicology and creative writing. Beta competition gives students a plethora of opportunities to perform at a level that represents their best skills and abilities. Several students competed in academic testing events in all the major subject areas, certain students created pieces of artwork to submit to visual arts judging, and several students competed in performing arts.
Students from all across the state attend this event each year. There were over 2,500 registered attendees at this year's convention. Our students were able to meet with many of them, make some good new friends, and build their network of contacts with the next generation of leaders in our state. A part of this process included playing a team scavenger hunt using the incredibly interactive app, Goosechase. Our students were able to interact with students, sponsors, and event staff while competing to complete the most amount of tasks. That experience, coupled with the many great speakers and performers our students were able to watch was very moving.
Two of the most exciting parts of the trip were involving two of our competitive events. Lead sponsor Mrs. Susan Holt approached Coach John Mask, assistant sponsor, and Mrs. Tina Downs, choir teacher, of the possibility of putting together a show choir to perform in competition for state convention. After some planning and recruiting, they were able to form the first ever Alcorn Central High School Show Choir. The inaugural group consisted of 14 students 10-12th grade of various performing skills and backgrounds. The student selected the song of their choice and Mrs. Tina and Coach Mask worked diligently preparing these students for competition. Their hard work paid off in the long run as they worked their way through preliminaries and finals to be crowned MS Beta Show Choir State Champions!
The other exciting moment came from the visual arts division. Senior Beta Kayla McEwen set out many months ago to create a table to enter in the woodworking competition. With the help of her dad and grandfather, she was able to construct a freestanding table with no legs. She describes it as being designed and constructed using the concept of tensegrity – a term and principle she learned in physics class last semester. The rigor and craftsmanship of her final product helped win her an individual State Championship!
These two events have qualified to compete in the National Beta Club Convention in June. It will be held in Savannah, Georgia. The club has also qualified three other events previously this year at the Beta Club Leadership Expo event held on the campus of USM in Hattiesburg back in October. In total, ACHS will be represented in five different categories at the national level with 15 or more students being able to participate.
We are incredibly proud of these hardworking students and these dedicated sponsors for putting in the effort and time to make this event successful. The ACHS Beta Club represented our school very well and will continue to do so on bigger and better levels as their “Voyage to Adventure” continues.
Congratulations to all students! #LearnLeadEXCEL #weareAC