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Harrells Christian Academy’s Senior Beta club rolled into New Orleans on Monday, June 27th for the 36th annual National Beta Club Convention and came away National Champions in two different competitions.
“Our students represented HCA well. This makes the second year in a row that the HCA Senior Beta Club has come home as national award winners,” boasted HCA Senior Beta advisor, Ruth Ann Parker.
The Crusaders were lined up to compete in ten different events between Tuesday and Wednesday. While in New Orleans they were also able to squeeze in a visit to several museums and city sites, as well as indulge in delicious local cuisine despite their hectic schedule.
On Tuesday, the club had members registering their 2nd place state banner, while others set up their Lead by Serving Exhibition. Dressed in red, white, and blue, Ellie Carone, Will Huff, Amos Lanier, Morgan Moore, Marissa Parks, Brooke Raynor, Stancil Bowles, and Ivey Rouse met and encouraged people to take part in their military appreciation booth by teaching students and adults how to fold pocket flags. These flags would later be distributed to military bases in NC. On Wednesday afternoon, Will Huff, Caroline Jones, Amos Lanier, Kiley Jones, & Joseph Lee presented information about the exhibit in the Service Snapshot Challenge. The club were National Champions (or first place winners) in this competition.
By noon, in another area of the convention center, Abigail Blanchard, Anna Laurie Carter, Harley Crumpler, Caroline Jones, Kiley Jones, Joseph Lee, Sabrina Maragelis, Brayden Sutton, Tyler Sutton, and Miranda Wells practiced for the character skit competition. The skit, which was written by seniors Kiley Jones and Tyler Sutton, had previously garnered the Crusaders a first place finish in the NC State Beta Convention in Greensboro, NC back in February. This competition requires students to demonstrate what it means to be a member of the National Beta Club. While the field was tough, the HCA group was able to land a final top ten spot.
Later that afternoon, Brayden Sutton, McKenzie Parks, and Joseph Lee moved into their academic competitions. McKenzie Parks placed in the top ten in the Science Division, and Joseph Lee won an overall 3rd place in the Poetry Division.
HCA Senior Betas also participated in two other academic team challenges, Meeting of the Minds and Rapid Response. Team members Brooke Raynor, McKenzie Parks, Amos Lanier, Tyler Evans, Lucas Thornton, Madison Tart, Abigail Blanchard, Sabrina Maragelis, and Brayden Sutton had to collaboratively engage in higher level cognitive abilities such as abstract reasoning, problem solving, and memory skills.
Tyler Cameron, Seth Harrell, Talina Giles, & Marissa Parks competed in Convention Invention, which required students to bring Legos® and invent a viable solution to a problem which was presented on site. This group was highly impressed with their competition, especially with the groups who designed their creations to work through computer programming. “It’s always great to see what other schools are doing, so you know where you can grow. I’d definitely support our younger students in beginning a robotics program at HCA,” stated a team member.
With recycled materials in hand, including shredded soda cans, Anna Laurie Carter, Caroline Jones, Kylie Jones, Brenna King, and Joseph Lee got busy creating a fashion piece in the Reimagine, Recreate, Recycle competition. Wednesday morning, Caroline Jones joined other competitors in a fashion show to demonstrate the artistic talent of their teams. The HCA team walked away as National Champions in this competition.
“We could not have asked for more support from our families. They believe in these children and in what this organization promotes: Academic Achievement, Leadership, Character, and Service. It is because of their support that we are able to participate in and attend our state and national conventions,” stated Parker.
Parker continued by adding, “by the end of the convention, we had students already planning for the 2017 state convention. I love that excitement! I can’t begin to explain the joy we experience when we hear our school name called out in front of thousands of attendees…We also share the joy and congratulations with our Sampson County sister schools, Sampson Early College High School and Clinton High School on their national placements. I am a proud sponsor of an organization that believes that exemplary student effort and achievement should be encouraged and rewarded and an organization that seeks to cultivate the ideals of service and leadership in our citizens of tomorrow.”
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