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Allen County Schools News Article

Junior Beta Students Qualify for Nationals

Junior Beta Students Qualify for Nationals


   Three teams and an individual student from the Junior Beta chapter at the Allen County Intermediate Center (ACIC) qualified last week at the state Junior Beta Convention in Lexington to advance to the National Junior Beta Convention later this year.

The ACIC Division I fifth grade Tower of Power team took first place honors in their event. Team members include Parker Thompson, Nicole Morgan, Taylor Temple, Emma Vick, and Trace Penick.

“Tower of Power is designed for a team of three to five students to use innovative problem solving techniques and engineering concepts to create a tower that supports a tennis ball for one minute,” explained Kellie Stinson, Junior Beta sponsor at ACIC. “Students had 15 minutes to construct the tallest tower possible using all the materials provided.”

The Tower of Power competition featured two divisions---Division I is fourth and fifth grades and Division II is sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The ACIC Division II team of sixth graders Tucker Scott, Karsyn Carter, Rafe Blankenship, Peyton Cope, and Sara Beth Meador placed second last week. Both ACIC teams qualified for the national competition.

The ACIC robotics team placed second in last week’s competition and also qualified for nationals. Team members are sixth graders, Hayden Stephens, Will Pitchford, Aaron Shain, Alec Doolin, Exavier Knight, and Embry Pierce. The team is coached by Aaron Boggess and Tamela Boggess.

“This competition is a team event consisting of four to eight members who had to design, program, construct, and implement their robot,” Stinson said. “Teams brought their pre-constructed robots and props to showcase their interpretation of the challenge having incorporated skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This was the first year this event was included in the Junior Beta Convention.”

In an individual competition, fifth grader Sara Wright placed third in the Division I Essay competition.

“The Essay competition provides an opportunity for students to use creative details through written expression as they interpret the topic,” Stinson explained. “This years’ topic was ‘In today's time a Beta leader is.’”

Wright also qualifies to attend the National Junior Beta Convention. The national event will be held in Orlando Florida in June.

The state Junior Beta Convention last week in Lexington welcomed Junior Beta students from across the Commonwealth. The event included 103 students from the Intermediate Center and 108 students from the James E. Bazzell Middle School. Students participated in multiple team and individual competitions during their three days in Lexington.

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