From staff reports
The Thomas Magnet School National Junior Beta Club is seeking funding to send 11 state winners to the 2025 National Junior Beta Convention in Orlando, Florida.
Courtney Bogle, National Junior Beta Club sponsor at Thomas Magnet, needs $40,000 raised in order for the students to attend.
“Our club recently attended and competed in the National Junior Beta Tennessee State Convention,” Bogle said. “While there, our students competed in various academic, STEAM, and arts contests.
“They made Bedford County proud by bringing home seven top 5 finishes, including one first place, state champion finish in small group performing arts. In addition to this, we had one student who was given a golden ticket and invited to sing in the opening ceremony of the convention.”
Bogle realizes the cost of the trip for 11 students and two sponsors is not cheap, but she stresses these students are deserving of the opportunity.
“Our students have worked so hard to earn this honor, and we hope that our community is just as proud of them as we are,” Bogle said. “We are seeking community partners to help us fund this endeavor for this trip of a lifetime for some of our students.”
The Thomas Beta Club is very active in the school and the community.
“The National Beta Club, it is an organization that teaches students how to be leaders through serving others,” Bogle said. “We spend our school year giving back to our school and the community in numerous ways.
“Just this year, we held a sock drive and collected over 1,600 pairs of socks which we gave out to other Bedford County Schools and local nursing homes. We also created Thanksgiving and Christmas meal baskets for families in our school who would not have otherwise been able to afford a meal during those two holidays.”
In addition the students have created an after-school tutoring program to benefit younger students in grades K-5, collected stuffed animals to give out at children’s hospitals, washed firetrucks, and volunteered to help at numerous community events including the Bedford County Fair.
“We are currently working on our big, end-of-the-year service project which will be to grant a Bedford County child their wish to go to Disney World,” Bogle said. “To do this, we have partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee.”
