By Brandy Young
When you hear about an award-winning Show Choir and Performing Arts group, you might not immediately think of Magazine High School. But Magazine Beta Club is working hard to change that misconception in a big way. At the 2025 Arkansas State Beta Convention, Magazine Beta added a long list of awards to their ever-growing collection including State Champion in both Show Choir and Performing Arts Group for the second year in a row. Competing against much larger schools with expansive performing arts programs, Magazine walked away with top honors and are still looking to bring home more titles at nationals.
Donna Riddle, Beta Club sponsor for each of her 37 years at Magazine, is very proud of what this club has accomplished. “We started competing in show choir about 7 or 8 years ago, and we’ve never failed to be in the top 5, which means we’ve never failed to qualify for nationals. For the past two years, we have been in the top 10 at nationals. That is a testament to the vocal talent and work ethic of these kids, as well as to the work of our very talented choir director, Mrs. Alisa Green. Our show choir has evolved as we have figured out what the judges are looking for. We have gotten better at knowing how to use our 8 allotted microphones for the best sound, which makes our relatively small show choir able to compete with much larger groups. We have also stepped up our game in the area of choreography, which I think has made a big difference in our scores. We’ve done group talent for much longer, and we’ve placed at state fairly consistently over the past 6 or 7 years.”
For this year’s show choir performance, the students chose a selection of songs by Adele. The students performed songs from the movie “Grease” for the Performing Arts competition.
But Beta isn’t just about performing arts. National Beta Club is an honor society that centers around four “pillars”: academic achievement, character, leadership, and service. It is the largest independent educational organization for students in the United States. Each year, participating states hold their state conventions where students participate in competitions in numerous academic subjects, engineering, arts, performing arts, and community service. The students compete at the state level to qualify for the national convention. This year, the Magazine Beta Club earned 16 separate awards, each qualifying to compete at the national convention in June.
Junior High:
4th Place – Performing Arts Small Group
5th Place – 7th Grade U.S. History, Isaac Staton
Senior High:
1st Place – Show Choir
1st Place – Performing Arts Large Group
1st Place – Poetry-Division II, Nat Ervin
2nd Place – Quilling, Abby Crandall
2nd Place – 9th Grade Math, Connor Hopper
3rd Place – 10th Grade Health & PE, Abby Crandall
4th Place – 11th Grade Psychology, Pheobe Hopper
4th Place – Painting-Division II, McKenzie Morris
4th Place – On-Site Painting-Division II, McKenzie Morris
5th Place – Engineering, Cain Harmon, McKenzie Morris, Caleb Staton, and Owen Staton
5th Place – Digital Art-Division II, Nat Ervin
In addition to these awards, 3 students, Ainslee Chappell, Daniel Green, and Kauree Bennett, were given a “Golden Ticket” and invited to be Premier Performers at the National Convention opening session.
The National Convention will be held this June in Orlando, FL. If anyone wishes to make a donation to help these students with the costs of the convention, donations can be delivered in person at the address below or mailed to:
Magazine Beta Club 485 E. Priddy St Magazine, AR
