JCHS Beta Club Travels To Savannah For State Convention

Last week 34 Jasper County High School Beta Club students competed at the state Beta Club convention held at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.

Students competed in a variety of events including engineering, banner, scrapbook, robotics, technology, marketing and communications, show choir, living literature, onsite art, poetry, visual arts (where you bring pre-made pieces with you), problem solving skit, and academic tests.

Overall, Jasper County won 11 awards at the state convention this year. In the art competitions, sophomore Julia Aldridge placed second in sculpture and fifth in mixed media. Amber Dooley placed fourth in fiber arts with her “furbie” creation. Junior Mari Jablonski placed first in sculpture and third in handmade jewelry. Sophomore Kaylee York placed third in on site painting. Junior Chris Arnold placed fourth in the Agriscience test.

In terms of team competitions, the students entered Show Choir (under the direction of Cheryl Jacobs) for the first time and placed third. Show choir members include Julia Aldridge, Chris Arnold, Bekah Bell, Ciara Christopher, Thomas Cooper, Tyler Cooper, Alexis Dorsey, Avery Jacobs, Emma Jacobs, Gavin Jacobs, Mari Jablonski, Cole Smith, and Kaylee York.

JCHS has long been a force to be reckoned with in the Engineering competition, formerly known as Beta Build, as the local team (coached by Matt Tumlin) has placed every year. This year proved no exception as they placed fourth out of approximately 20 teams. Students were asked to use one or more of the required elements: golf ball, toy car, solo cup, nail, and/or calculator in their invention. Jasper’s group utilized all elements. The engineering team consisted of Ciara Christopher, Chasity Joyner, Haley Pitchford, Cole Smith, and J.K. Strength.

Living Literature is a competition where students are asked to recreate a scene from literature and then freeze it as if in a wax museum. The JCHS team chose “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut this year and their scene was Billy Pilgrim transitioning from World War II to being captive in an alien zoo. A great deal of art (painting backdrops, making props, costume design, etc) goes into this event. This year they placed fourth out of 16 teams.

The Living Lit team members include Julia Aldridge, Chris Arnold, Ansley Atkinson, Bekah Bell, Hailey Busby, Mari Jablonski, Braxton Johnson, Landon Collier, Tyler Cooper, Mari Jablonski, Avery Jacobs, Mary Reed, Rose Redd, Cameron Snyder, Drew Schiling, and Kaylee York.

The theme for robotics this year was “Reduce, Reuse, Refine.” This year JCHS’ robotics team chose to create a simulation of a robot reducing a car to its scrap parts and then reusing and refining it to become a new, nicer vehicle. They won fourth place at the state competition. Robotics members include Ansley Atkinson, Wesley Brooks, Landon Collier, Braxton Johnson, and Ethan Proctor.

Ultimately 27 of the local students qualified for the national competition which will be held in Oklahoma City in June.

To get an authentic sense of state Beta convention experience, it is worthwhile to hear from the students themselves. Miss Jablonski said she “liked that even though we are competing against each other, kids are supportive and encouraging of other schools’ teams.”

Senior Mary Reed said “it brought me out of my comfort zone and made more confident when it comes to presenting.”

Allie Dorsey shared that “show choir was my favorite part…it was the most fun and I built a really good bond with some old friends and made some new friends.”

Jamel Gude said, “Beta convention was amazing! The competition aspect was really fun. I was able to express myself by showcasing my talents. I think the best part of Beta convention, though, were the friendships I made with other students there. There were just a bunch of genuine people everywhere. I enjoyed everything!”

Junior Marissa Johnson shared that she “really enjoyed meeting new people and making the new Beta state secretary for Georgia do cartwheels with me.”

On a more practical note, Ansley Atkinson said “working after hours at school eventually paid off. We’re going to nationals!”

Three time convention attendee Ciara Christopher summed it up by saying “you don’t experience anything like it, ever!”