The William Byrd High School Beta Club was founded in 1960 and has been inducting students with grade-point averages of 3.75 or above into the club for 57 years.
This year, 66 seniors were invited to become members and inducted at a ceremony held in the auditorium at the school on October 17. In addition to maintaining a high GPA, the seniors must also commit to completing 10 hours of volunteer service, five of which must be school-related.
Inductees for 2017-2018 include Jasmine Allinson, Miguel Antivero, Ozioma Anyanwu, Zachary Aylor, Mackenize Beard, Tabitha Beecher, Brooke Blankenship, Elena Boitnoit, Kayland Bond, Ana Boush, Andrew Brooks, Emily Brooks, Bailey Browning, Julia Burek, Ryan Buxton, Tanner Claybrook, Haley Cook, Madeline Craig, Jasmine Crawford, Austin Dickson, Caleb Divers, Brenna Donahue, Everett Fletchall, Khalil Fonder, Kathleen Fuchs, Rebecca Geisler, Tabitha Gills, Alyson Gilmer, Carla Graybill, Sophie Griffin, Alexa Harmon, Reilly Hatfield, Darien Hildebeidel, Joshua Hilliard, Asia Holland, Jackson Honaker, Madison Horacek, Analee Huber, Kavya Iyer, Luis Jerez, Luke Johnston, Marissa Kopera, Molly Letchford, Autumn Martin, Lexis Mason, Tina Nguyen, Kayla Nichols, Courtney Palmer, Evamarie Pascoe, Claire Pennington, MaryKate Price, Richard Qiu, Jeanette Sako, Laura Schneider, Justin Seymore, Hannah Shelton, Hannah Sowers, Christopher Spano, Abby Spotswood, Mara Strum, Payton Taylor, Whitney Tickle, Sarah Tyus, Alexis West, Danielle Witcher, and Kathryn Woodson.
The Beta Club is a national organization– the largest independent, non-profit, educational youth organization in America. Dr. John W. Harris, a professor at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, founded the organization in 1934.
The mission is to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, service and leadership among students. Beta Clubs recognize and honor high academic achievement. Its aim is to develop the leaders of tomorrow and fulfill the motto: “Let Us Lead by Serving Others.”
National Beta chapters can be found throughout the United States and across the globe, with clubs in China, Japan, Guam, Russia, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Panama and Puerto Rico.
Suzanne Spruell and Dottie Mayer are faculty co-sponsors of the Beta Club at WBHS.
