July 23, 2020
By: Bill Conger
The DeKalb West School Junior Beta club took its talented tech students to the first ever National Junior Beta Club Virtual Convention.
Bradley Pelham, Kolton Slager, and Riley Fuson had placed 2nd in the Tennessee competition last November, earning them a spot to the convention in Texas. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the convention was conducted with online competitions. The Tech team had to submit its video by June, and finalists were announced July 17.
“They did not place, but they learned to work as a team and to give as well as receive criticism as a team,” DWS Jr. Beta Lead Sponsor Jessica Antoniak said.
Operating on the theme, Beta As Far As I Can See, the Bulldog Betas created a video doing different kinds of service including helping with the school’s Backpack program, cleaning up at the school and around the community, helping around their home, and packing boxes for military personnel. Pelham used iMovie to edit it and FlipaClip to create the transitions.
“For Nationals the boys decided to change the video a little bit,” Antoniak explained. “The content remained the same, but Bradley made the transitions better, and they added a question at the end.”
Co-sponsor Nadina Martel led the team with discussion and working through changes as they convened on Google Meets.
Congratulations to the DWS Junior Beta Club for making it to the national convention.