Alpha Beta Chapter celebrates 75 years
Courtesy photo Among those attending the 75th anniversary celebration of the Alpha Beta Chapter are (from left): Eileen Little, state president; Laura Vent, Alpha Beta’s newest member; and Becky Johnen, chapter president.
Courtesy photo Cindy Reynolds portrayed Annie Webb Blanton, founder of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society.
Courtesy photo Among those attending the 75th anniversary celebration of the Alpha Beta Chapter are (from left): Eileen Little, state president; Laura Vent, Alpha Beta’s newest member; and Becky Johnen, chapter president.
Courtesy photo Cindy Reynolds portrayed Annie Webb Blanton, founder of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society.
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On March 25, members of Alpha Beta Chapter celebrated the chapter's 75th anniversary in the Delta Kappa Gamma Society at the Bistro at Village Green in Martinsburg.
Becky Johnen, chapter president, welcomed via Zoom special guest Debbie LeBlanc, international president.
Eileen Little, state president, also recognized the chapter.
Alpha Beta Chapter was founded on May 22, 1948, at the Bedford Springs Hotel, where through the years the chapter served as host for State Executive Board as well as Pennsylvania State Convention. In 1953, Pearl S. Buck, Nobel Prize-winning author, was initiated as a National Honorary Member of Delta Kappa Gamma.
From the beginning, Alpha Beta members have served the society at the local, state and international levels.
Two members earned the highest honor of the Pennsylvania State organization, the State Achievement Award: in 1989, Thelma Morse, and in 1997, Joan McGreevey.
During the March event, Cindy Reynolds of Beta Rho Chapter portrayed Annie Webb Blanton, founder of Delta Kappa Gamma Society.
She highlighted Blanton's goals in organizing the group of key women educators and emphasized Alpha Beta's implementation of those goals. From her research on the pandemic of 1918, she connected its effects on education and intertwined the facts with the history of the society.
Along with honoring past chapter presidents with gifts and certificates, Tina Smith-Gilbert, Alpha Beta first vice president, led the members in recommitting to the Delta Kappa Gamma Society principles as part of the initiation of Alpha Beta's newest member, Laura Vent, with Little participating.
Projects Chair Linda Clapper reminded the members that donations were being collected for the Jubiliani School in Africa as well as items for local backpack programs. Then she reported that 96 fleece blankets have been donated to local organizations from 2019 to present.
Local recipients of Alpha Beta Chapter's Teacher Appreciation Grants shared how they used the funds to achieve their classroom goals. Ali Imler, art teacher at Bedford Area School District, brought samples of her students' glass mosaics and some of the tools purchased for creating the art pieces.
Tracey Williams of Tus-sey Mountain School District showed samples of her students' drawings using the mannequins purchased with the grant money.
Other recipients Cortney Booher of Forbes Road School District and Kelly Lazor of Tussey Mountain School District sent letters explaining how their students benefited from the grant funds.