Hardly a year old, the newly formed Beta Club at Sacred Heart Catholic School is heading to national competition in June in Louisville, Kentucky. The club earned the right to take part recently at the state competition in Branson, Missouri.
“We are proud to announce we brought home eight awards,” teacher Subrina Berger said. “We had 17 entries, including virtual, and in-person. We will have a total of six entries at the National Beta Convention.”
Agreeing the school needed a Beta Club, Berger and fellow teacher Casey DesPres became co-sponsors of the new group.
“In the five years I’ve been at Sacred Heart, I have not seen an active Beta Club,” said Berger, adding the school has not had an active club for several years.
DesPres’s children attend Saint Theresa Catholic School in Glennonville, where they have an outstanding Beta team, so she came with experience. Berger said.
“We decided it was time to put that experience to good use in our own school,” Berger said.
Nine of the club’s entries qualified for National Beta Convention. Due to a scheduling conflict, some of students will be unable to attend.
“We will defend our Missouri state championship in group performance with four students instead of seven, including Sarrena Krizman, Cora Houchens, Matt Pestillos and Zach Pestillos,” Berger said.
Two students will compete in the songfest category instead of four, including Krizman and Houchens. Fourth grade artist Pestillos will compete in the on-site drawing category, and fourth-grader Houchens will compete in both math and solo performance. The two-dimensional banner will be submitted by the sponsors.
This year, the group started with 12 new members and Berger said, many more are excited to join next year.
“Our club meeting April 12 will begin recruiting for next year for,” Berger said. “We expect to double our numbers at the Missouri State Beta competition next year. We have students who are looking forward to competing in the robotics, engineering, science and social studies categories, along with more of the performance arts and visual arts.
“As a first time sponsor, it was overwhelming, attending the Missouri State Convention, especially since I was not a member of Beta Club when I was a young student,” Berger said. “The skill attitude, and determination that the students demonstrate gives me absolute hope for tomorrow because these kids have got it going on. I witnessed students giving speeches, encouraging each other and cheering for other schools with so much enthusiasm and I can’t wait to be a part of it again.”
The local elementary competitors received state champion in group performance, second place in two dimensional design, second place in songfest, second place for on site drawing (Pestillos), second-place math (Houchens), third place for on-site painting (Lily Clausen), third place for performing arts, solo, duo, trio (Houchens) and fourth place in speech (Mollie Parks).
In 2021, virtual entries were instated after COVID-19 started cutting out in person activities for students. The National Beta organization developed a way for students to compete in academic programs without attending conventions. These events can include English language arts, writing, Spanish, science, social studies and math, along with others. Several art entries were completed before the competition, and submitted by the sponsors.