Clear Fork, WV (WOAY) – A four-year-old club at Westside High School in Wyoming County returned from the National Beta Convention in Nashville this summer with a national champion and a distinction no other West Virginia school can claim this year. Westside sent more students to the senior-level competition than any other school in the state, according to Principal Katie Endicott.
The standout result belonged to rising senior Wyatt Blankenship, who won the Solo, Duo, Trio performing arts championship with a rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the same song that earned him first place at the state convention. The reaction stuck with him.
“Everybody cheering for me after I sang my song, it took me 20 minutes to get back to my seat because people kept coming up to me,” he said. “It’s something I’ll remember.”
Beta is a national honor society that recognizes students for academics, leadership and character, then sends them to compete against schools from across the country at state and national conventions. Westside competed across nearly every category in Nashville. Three of its students finished in the top 10 in academics, including a sixth-in-the-nation finish in psychology from Lily McCoy. The quiz bowl team reached the top 16, and students wrote and choreographed their own campaign skit.
“We love to go show our kids, show our communities, show everyone that our kids are just as talented,” she said. “They’re just as creative, they’re just as gifted as anyone in the nation. So when our kids show up on this national stage and they start winning, it brings a lot of excitement to our school, to our kids, to our community.”
Rising senior Emma Endicott, a Beta member since fifth grade, competed in academics and performing arts and pointed to the program’s reach beyond athletics.
“You get to know people and people get to showcase their talents outside of sports, and even if you are involved in sports, there’s a place for you in every single competition,” she said.
The club’s influence now extends statewide. Rising senior Jaxson Walker serves as West Virginia’s Beta state president and campaigned for a national office in Nashville.
“There’s people that have so much talent in the arts, in STEM and academics that really need to be showcased,” he said. “So I really want to be there to be the guiding hand to help them be the best they can be.”
Beta sponsor Angel Green said the success carries extra weight for a small school.
“It’s amazing to see what they can accomplish, especially in a small town like ours,” she said. “Lots of times the mindset is, you know, that we can’t compete with those larger schools in other states, but they have no fear.”
The National Beta Convention moves to Fort Worth, Texas, next summer, and Endicott says Westside plans to be there.
