Searcy, AR (LP) — Beta Club is the largest national educational club offered to students. At Searcy High School, students are invited to this club based on their academics in school. The Beta members at Searcy get a chance every year to participate in the state’s Beta Convention. Beta Convention in Arkansas takes place at the Hot Springs Convention Center, where students from all over the state come together for two days. Here, students get to compete in different categories or can even run for office positions for Arkansas’s Beta. If students do well in their competitions they have the chance to move forward to the national convention. This year’s national convention will take place in Fort Worth, Texas. 

While only select people get to go to Beta Convention, senior Morgan Maples was lucky to be one of those students to experience it. “I had never gone before and it seemed like a lot of fun. Since it’s my senior year I want to participate in as many high school events that I have the opportunity for,” explains Maples.

For the Beta members of Searcy High school, attending the convention earns them points that goes towards receiving a Beta cord they can wear at their graduation. “I wanted to participate in Beta Convention because I’d heard how fun it was and wanted to experience it,” says senior Breanna Borst. “Beta Convention is also worth 200 points and I needed to finish up my Beta points.”

At Beta Convention, there are a handful of competitions that students can choose to compete in such as test taking, quiz bowl, art, poetry, and talent. Members spend an entire day working or turning in their entries to later attend the awards show to see if they had placed. “The competition I got was taking an academic science test,” states Maples. “It reminded  me a lot of the science portion of the ACT. Every member competing in an academic event all took their test in the same room, so there were hundreds of students testing in the same are. It was kind of overwhelming.”

Borst chose to enter into the creative writing competition the convention had to offer. “I had to write a narrative from a prompt within 90 minutes. I didn’t place, but it was still fun,” says Borst.

Even though they both may not have placed, the two enjoyed the two day trip in Hot Springs. “My favorite part of Beta Convention would simply  be having fun with my classmates and teachers. We had a lot of laughs and inside jokes come from that weekend,” explains Borst.

Beta Convention is a great way to meet other members outside of school, bond with fellow classmates, and partake in activities that students love.