Berkeley County School District has some hard-working Beta Clubs that are being recognized after helping their sponsors earn the 2022-2023 John W. Harris Educators of Excellence award.
Connie Moak, April Hunt, Melissa Rooney and Brandy Brown from Stratford High are being recognized with the award, along with Cane Bay High’s 2022-2023 sponsors Lauren Buchan and Susannah Nutt.
The award is the highest honor offered to National Beta sponsors. Stratford High and Cane Bay High are two out of six schools in the entire state with sponsors who were recognized for the 2022-2023 school year.
Stratford High’s Beta Club sponsors said only 179 of over 20,000 sponsors received the honor this year. Those sponsors come from only 68 of over 8,500 clubs across the country and beyond. All John W. Harris Educators of Excellence receive a lapel pin and certificate as a symbol of their extraordinary accomplishment.
National Beta has become the nation’s largest independent, non-profit, educational youth organization. National Beta recognizes outstanding achievement, promotes character and social responsibility, encourages service involvement to school and community, and fosters leadership skills.
Staff members said to qualify for the John W. Harris Educator of Excellence award, sponsors must focus on club growth by achieving National Beta School of Distinction and School of Merit status. They must be committed to leadership and character development by bringing students to National Beta events. Sponsors must also demonstrate their focus on the National Beta motto, “Let Us Lead by Serving Others”, by leading their club to earn a National Beta service hour award.
Beta students from both schools had a very active 2022-2023 school year.
Stratford High students volunteered within the community in a number of ways: they provided assistance with the Goose Creek Recreational Center for its Fall Festival and Easter Egg Hunt. The students also provided buddies for Summerville Miracle League games during the fall and spring seasons, raised money for Red Nose Day, and did a holiday supply drive for Berkeley Animal Shelter and wrapped the toys for all the new adopted and fostered pets. They held a supply drive for Lowcountry Period Pixies and packed 325 school and community packs of feminine hygiene supplies, and volunteered at various events on the Stratford campus.
Members placed in nine categories at the South Carolina Beta Convention: first in musicology; first in French (10th grade); second in Math (ninth grade); second in painting (Division I); second in Service Learning Showcase; third in Freshman Problem Solving; third in Marketing & Communications; and third in Poetry (Division II). The group also received the Gold Key Award.
Members went on to place in three categories in the National Beta Convention in Louisville, Kentucky: third in French (10th grade); third in Science (11th grade); and first in Poetry (Division II).
Stratford High Principal Jayma Diaz expressed her enthusiasm over her teachers' recognition.
"They are an inspiration to us all at Stratford and we are very proud of their accomplishments," she said.
Cane Bay High’s Beta Club students also placed in the state convention: first in biomedical science (10th grade), first in English (10th grade) and third in English (ninth grade). The school went on to compete at the national convention.
Students are particularly proud of its community cleanup program, which is held once a month and involves the Beta Club students collecting litter on the trails throughout the Cane Bay community. This program is still ongoing, and the club is planning its next big cleanup in October. Beta Club students also lead a peer tutoring program.
Cane Bay High Principal Dr. Glenda Levine said she is proud of the hard work Beta Club students have put into their school and their community.
“Although I have only been the principal of Cane Bay High for about three months now, I witnessed the work and wisdom of our Beta Club from the moment I arrived,” Levine said. “Not only have Beta Club members demonstrated strength in academic achievement, they have also shown strength in the areas of character, leadership, and service. We are fortunate to have such a wonderful organization in our Cane Bay Cobra Family.”
