DECATUR—For Augustine Preparatory Academy eighth-grader Alexanderia Thomas, third place just wasn’t good enough. Last year, the 13-year-old fell just shy of the top honor in the National Beta Club’s Georgia Convention speech competition. This time, Thomas took home first place at the December convention.

“It was very important for me to go back and win it all,” said Thomas, a Lithonia resident. “I fell in love with the speech competition when I first came to this school as a fifth grade. Since then, I knew I wanted to be the winner.”

The Dec. 6 – 7 convention hosted more than 6,000 students from about 25 schools from around the state at the Macon Civic Center.

After winning first place, Thomas delivered her award-winning speech, “The Heart of Beta,” to all the convention attendees. Now, as a first place winner at the Georgia competition, Thomas looks forward to the June National Beta Club Convention competition in Mobile, Alabama.

Augustine Preparatory Headmaster Vickie B. Turner says the type of hard work and determination that Thomas displayed is seen through so many of her students, but it feels even sweeter when statewide judges recognize them for it.

“I can tell the students, their parents can tell them as well, but it means something when others affirm what you have been saying the whole time. This time the convention judges saw what we see everyday, and that is, the greatness that is evident in our students,” said Turner. “The Bible says: Let other men testify of thee. In this instance, it was the Beta world. The fact that we are doing this as a private school that is small in numbers but great in determination proves that once the agreement of home, school and church are met, there is nothing standing in our way.”

The Augustine Preparatory Beta Club team took home third place in the group talent competition as well. The 27-member team sang their rendition of contemporary gospel recording artist Mandisa’s “Good Morning.” The students had to send in an audition tape before the competition, going up against seven other schools on the stage.

Now, with that competition under their belts, the Decatur academy looks to the Feb. 8-9 DeKalb County Science and Energy fair, where Thomas and several of her other classmates will go up against both, private and public, school students from around the County at Clarkston High School in Clarkston.

The National Junior Beta Club is open to students in fifth through ninth grades who meet the scholastic, character, service and leadership criteria set forth by the national club and the school.

Augustine Preparatory Academy, 4650 Flat Shoals Parkway, Decatur, educates 115 future leaders in grades K-2 through eighth grades. The academy is currently in open enrollment.

For more information or to enroll your young scholar, call 404-212-7660 or visit www.augustineprep.info.