PARADIS — The J.B. Martin Middle School Jr. BETA team competed at District Day in Luling, providing an opportunity for the school’s most outstanding students to work together and encourage high academic merit and service in the community.

Seventh and Eighth grade students who maintained an A/B average in their previous school year are invited into the club in August. After the first school quarter, students who have As and Bs on their report cards are invited to join the club in October.

The core value of the organization is summed up in its motto: Let us lead by serving others.

The team was awarded first place in Banner Design, a banner that depicts the 2016-17 convention theme, “Above and Beyond; Book Battle;” Robotics, where members design, construct and implement their robot to address the challenge theme; and Movers, Shakers, Creators; and Group Talent, where a group of students decide a theme and present that to the judges guided by regulations for the challenge.