St. James elementary and middle school students competed in the Missouri Beta State Convention in Branson. The competition allowed National Beta Club members to showcase their academic, leadership and creative skills.

A total of 40 students from the elementary school competed, with 21 students placing in the top five across 15 different categories. These students qualified to travel to Nashville this summer for the National Beta Convention, where they will compete for a national title.

Those taking top five in individual categories were:

Kooper Lorts (first place in fourth grade Health and Physical Education), Beatrice Keyes (fifth place in fourth grade Mathematics and second place in Color Photography), Emmalynn Davis (first place in fourth grade spelling), Laci Livengood (first place in fifth grade Health and Physical Education), Thatcher Rivers (first place in fifth grade Science), Truett Bahr (first place in fifth grade Social Studies), Keegan Graham (first place in Poetry and third place in Painting), Lydia Moreland (third place in Pottery) and Fischer Rapp (second place in Quilling).

Groups placing in the top five were:

Grayson Otto, Kooper Lorts, Fischer Rapp, Mason Haywood and Hudson Stack (first place in Engineering), Sila Stubblefield, Brooklyn Bouse and Ellie Deluca (second place in Marketing and Communications), Dallas Fenster, Thatcher Rivers, Tel Chancey and Braelyn Pigg (fifth place in Musicology) and Zoey Colvin, Beatrice Keyes and Claire Dazey (fifth place in Service Learning Showcase).

At the middle school level, 27 students placed in the top five across 14 different categories and will also head to Nashville this summer to contend for national recognition.

In the individual categories, those students were:

Rylan Becklenberg (first place in sixth grade Health and Physical Education), Henry Freiberg (fourth place in sixth grade Language Arts), Adalyn Dunn (first place in seventh grade Language Arts), Charlee Alterauge (first place in seventh grade Mathematics), Asher Keyes (first place in seventh grade Science), Grahym Felan (fifth place in seventh grade Social Studies), Collin Watson (second place in seventh grade U.S. History), Brynlee Lind (fifth place in Poetry) and Allison Wilkerson (third place in Painting).

Those taking top five in group categories were:

Cash Mendenhall and Cambreigh Chancey (first place in Variety Act), Hattie Gruver, Blair McCurdy, Leightin Stubblefield, Harper Kemnitzer and Paige Nesbitt (second place in Performing Arts Small Group), Asher Keyes, Piper Sandusky and Karris Stites (fourth place in Book Battle), Snyder Stack, Connor Otto, Beckett Rapp, Steele Ruble, Gavin Jenkins and Mason McCracken (third place in Engineering) and Asher Keyes and Connor Otto (third place in Technology).