The Preamble of the
National Honorary Beta Club:
“Believing that creditable student effort and
achievement should be encouraged and rewarded, and seeking to cultivate
the ideals of service
and leadership in our citizens of tomorrow, the governing
body of the National Honorary Beta Club has instituted this organization
for the
promotion of these ideals and those stated in the
Beta Creed, among elementary and secondary school students.”
To implement this purpose in the Leopold R-III School District, the following articles have been adopted.
Article I:
As is stated in The National Beta
Club constitution and Bylaws, “Membership is a privilege and not a right.
The qualifications for
membership on the part of the student shall be:
a) worthy character, b) good mentality, c) creditable achievement, and
d) commendable
attitude. The standards and means for appraising
these qualities shall be determined by the administration of the school
where the chapter
is located. Since the purpose of the organization
is to select, honor, and encourage students possessing these characteristics,
it shall be within
the province of the administration of each school
to set up such local standards of membership as shall best serve to bring
together in the
chapter students who merit distinction because of
these qualifications.”
Article II:
To become a member in the Leopold Beta Club:
1. Students must have an 8.00 overall
GPA and display superior character, service, and leadership.
2. Grade point averages are
based on semester grades, and the areas of character, service, and leadership
are evaluated and rated by the
faculty, yearly.
3. Students must average an 8.00
on an 11.00 scale in the areas of character, service, leadership, and GPA.
4. Students become eligible at the
beginning of their sophomore year after two semesters at Leopold.
New sophomore students meeting
the above requirements are eligible after one semester
at Leopold, unless they are transferring membership from another nationally
recognized Beta Club.
Article III:
To remain a member in the Leopold Beta Club:
1. Students must maintain an 8.00
GPA each semester.
2. Students must receive at least
75% of the faculty vote in favor that they have shown excellence in the
areas of character and leadership.
Faculty members are asked to vote on current members
once a year at the time that new members are being evaluated.
3. Students must comply with Article
V.
Article IV:
Academic Probation:
1. If a Beta student’s semester
GPA falls below 8.00, the student will be placed on academic probation
for one semester. The student and
his/her parents will be notified of the probationary
status. While on probation the student should remain fully active
in the organization.
He/She should continue to attend meetings, activities,
and complete service work. The student will be eligible to attend
convention and
apply for scholarships even if this period of probation
occurs during the second semester.
2. If the student’s GPA is brought
up to or above an 8.00 the following semester, the Beta student will be
removed from probationary
status.
3. Should the GPA not be brought
up by the end of the following semester, the student will be dropped from
the Beta Club.
Article V:
Conduct of Members:
Knowing that Beta Club is an organization
of honor, any member who casts a bad reflection upon the chapter shall
subject him/herself to
being brought before the Beta Club sponsors and administrators
for whatever action is necessary and reasonable.
Behavior Probation:
1. If a current member fails
to receive 75% of the faculty vote in favor that they have shown excellence
in the areas of character and
leadership, the student will be placed on behavior
probation.
2. The sponsors, with administration
approval, may also place students on behavior probation for the following
examples of misconduct.
These examples include, but are not limited to, excessive
lunch detentions, suspension, disrespect toward teachers, and cheating.
If a student is placed on behavior probation the following
will result:
1. The student and the parents will
be notified of the student’s probationary status.
2. While on probation the student
should remain fully active in the organization. He/She should continue
to attend meetings, activities,
and complete service work. The student will
be eligible to attend convention and apply for scholarships even if
this period of probation occurs during the second
semester.
3. The student will complete an
additional 5 - 20 hours of community service, in addition to the required
20 hours of service. The
sponsors, depending on the severity of the incident,
will determine the number of hours. The community service must be
pre-approved by
the sponsors.
4. At the end of the probationary
period, the student, sponsors, and administration shall meet to determine
if the student has shown noted
improvements in the areas of concern and has completed
the community service. At this time the student may be removed from
behavior
probation or dropped from Beta.
5. A senior placed on behavior probation
during the second semester will be required to complete Article V, number
3. At the end of the
probationary period, the student, sponsors, and administration
shall meet to determine if the student has shown noted improvements in
the
areas of concern. The requirements must be fulfilled
in order to be listed as a Beta member for graduation, receive the Beta
honor cords,
and receive the Beta Club seal on his or her diploma.
Section III – Disqualification:
1. Since the Beta Club is a merit
organization, members who fail to maintain a creditable record, or who
give evidence of personal conduct
unbecoming members of this club, may be disqualified
from membership.
2. Personal conduct unbecoming members
of this club includes, but is not limited to, minor in possession of alcohol
or illegal drugs, driving
under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, stealing,
other criminal activity, violation of school rules, and other conduct which
falls below
the moral and ethical standards of the community.
3. The sponsors and administration
will investigate any incidents of which they have knowledge. During
the investigation the student will
receive due process in that they will be allowed to
present their side of the case or defend their actions.
4. After review of the incident
the sponsors and administration may place the student on behavior probation,
disqualify or drop the
student from the Beta club, or delay any action until
additional information is obtained. Scholarships already earned will
not be taken away.
5. While behavior probation may be
given to Betas with minor behavior problems, the sponsor and administration
reserve the right to
drop a student from Beta for major behavior problems
without first placing the student on behavior probation.
Article VI:
Requirements for attending the state/national Beta
Convention:
1. Students will complete 20 hours
of community service prior to leaving for convention. Work done for
immediate family is not
considered community service. Immediate family
includes parents, siblings, and grandparents. Ten hours of service
must be completed and
turned in by the end of the second semester.
The remaining ten hours must be completed by the end of the first week
in March.
2. Students must earn their share
of the Beta expense money for the year, which includes convention expenses,
scholarship fund, senior
cords/seals, etc. Students must earn at least
75% of the average earned by all students or pay the difference in order
to go to the Beta
Convention.
a. Betas will receive credit
for the dollar amount sold on individual sales projects, such as raffles.
b. For group projects such
as the breakfast and chili suppers, each Beta that participates in the
project will receive a pro-rated share based
on the number of hours worked and the amount of money
raised.
c. For example: Beta Breakfast
– Total Profit divided by total number of hours the group worked times
the individual Beta student’s
hours worked will result in the dollar amount of credit
that a student will receive for working at the Beta Breakfast.