According to Bellaire’s National Beta Club website, their goal is to “To promote leadership, academic achievement, and service in our school and community”. They are led by co-presidents Grace Xiong and Abigail Cordiner, and are sponsored by geography teacher Mr. Aranda.

However, the purpose and goal that drives National Beta Club is better stated by its leaders than by its website. The officers and sponsors of the club work hard to keep it running. Aranda explains why he is a supports what National Beta Club does for its members.

“Our club encourages students to be more proactive in their community, and to develop students to present themselves in a professional and articulate manner,” Aranda said.  We can achieve this competing in our regional academic convention. It’s always fun to take our team to the convention and have them go up against the best in the state. The competitions range from art to quizbowl to mathematics.”

National Beta Club fosters service in the school and community by working on volunteer projects. Senior and co-president Grace Xiong explains what upcoming events and service opportunities that she is excited for.

“We are really excited to do our project at Memorial Park,” Xiong said. “We are going to be volunteering for a few hours on a Saturday at the Japanese garden. We will make it look better, but it’s also supposed to be a bonding period for both new members and old officers.”

Members of National Beta Club work hard for the club to have a unique feel and sense of camaraderie.  Senior and co-president Abigail Cordiner expressed her thoughts on what makes the club so special.

“It’s always been relatively small. That makes a really strong community,” Cordiner said. “Back in the day, with all the officers when I was a freshman, I knew I could go to them for help. I think it teaches very good values.”

Having a good sense of community is not all that is needed to make the club successful. Officers of National Beta Club know that there are aspects of the club that they can improve on. Aranda explains how he thinks the club could be made better.

“One thing that we can definitely improve on is having more leadership programs within our own club, with detailed courses on how to be a better leader,” Aranda said. “This would let the current leadership train the incoming leadership, so that they know what they are doing. By doing this, freshman would know how to lead the by the time they can become officers.”

The members and officers of National Beta Club are working hard on their upcoming projects, including cleaning up Memorial Park and collecting homeless goods for Crossroads charity.