Midway Hills Academy has received recognition as a National Beta School of Distinction.
Beta Club Lead Sponsor Anita Martin has led the Beta Club at Midway Hills Academy for five years. According to Martin, local beta clubs run under the guidance of the National Beta Club, an independent, non-profit, educational youth organization that works to build leadership skills among youth around the country.
There are more than 445,000 active members and more than 9,600 clubs nationally and internationally, according to the National Beta Club website.
“Students must maintain an A and B average and be on the merit list or honor roll to be invited. Those students receive an invitation letter to join and we wait for them to reply and pay dues before they become members,” said Martin. “A payment fee is required as we do pay fees to National Beta Club, and Beta Club members each receive a t-shirt honoring their high academic achievement and membership.”
At Midway Hills Academy, Beta Club was originally for fifth graders only, but two years ago fourth graders were able to be invited into the club. Members most often receive their invitations and accept them by October and are officially inducted during a ceremony in December.
“Last year we inducted 37 members into our club, which was a very high number compared to previous years,” said Martin. “I am proud to see how many high-achieving students we have and I hope we continue to grow in numbers.”
According to Martin, Midway Hills Academy received the National Beta School of Distinction title for increasing their club’s membership by at least 10% from last year. This was impacted by allowing fourth graders to join the club.
“We recognized that many of our fourth graders were achieving the guidelines to qualify for Beta Club and decided to include them to promote interaction between both grades and provide a greater impact on our students,” said Martin. “It pushes our fourth-grade members to continue to achieve so they may join the club again in fifth grade and it gives fourth graders, who may have missed the opportunity previously, to aspire to join in fifth grade.”
Members of the club learn leadership skills throughout the year. The Beta Club Handbook helps to guide lessons during monthly meetings and offers activities and lessons for students during the month to evaluate their own leadership skills and advance them. At each meeting, students review what they learned, discuss what they did to improve from their previous lesson and continue through the next step in the handbook.
“Leadership skills are very important to Beta Club. One of the National Beta Club’s missions is to develop the leaders of tomorrow and empower them to be successful. So, the handbook helps the students learn their strengths and weaknesses, how to improve upon those weaknesses, and it gives them chances to explore more of themselves as well,” said Martin.
Another key aspect of the club is the annual community service projects. According to Martin, they complete about two or three projects a year that are picked by the club’s members.
In the past, they have completed service projects in partnering with the animal shelter, local food banks, collecting clothes and resources for students who need them, and working with the fire department to collect and donate toys around the holidays and more.
“Each year, I review with students what we did previously and offer some suggestions if they get stuck on decisions, but they ultimately decide our projects,” said Martin. “It’s student-led community service so they pick it, plan it with my assistance, and follow through with their project to see the impact.”
Martin hopes that Beta Club numbers will continue to increase at Midway Hills and that the club will continue to make a larger impact on both students and the