Sixteen O’Neal Middle School students were inducted into the Junior Beta Club. During the ceremony, candles were lit representing the four virtues of the Junior Beta Club, which are: service, leadership, scholarship and honor. Current members then “tapped” the inductees, whereby all of the members then recited the Junior Beta Pledge, which was led by Rich Tompkins, middle school director.

The guest speaker was Caroline Eddy, executive director for Moore County Coalition for Human Care. She spoke of O’Neal’s support for the Coalition throughout the years and how the act of giving contributes to each student’s journey through life.

New inductees were:

Dana Averbook, daughter of Allen and Emily Averbook, of Pinehurst; Amanda Barnes, daughter of Jeff and Dana Barnes, of Pinehurst; Philip Casey, son of David Casey and Maria DiGiovanni, of Pinehurst; MacKenzie Cooper, granddaughter of Brenda Cooper, of Sanford; Piper Davis, daughter of Carty and Holly Davis, of Pinehurst; Karis Horner, daughter of Bill and Lee Ann Horner, of Sanford; Greyson Keel, son of Koley and Michele Keel, of Pinehurst; Blake Martin, son of Bill and Kara Martin, of Pinehurst; Madison McGuirt, daughter of Wyman and Courtney McGuirt, of Pinehurst; Emily McMurray, daughter of Brian and Konni McMurray, of Pinehurst; Emma Moore, daughter of Dargan Moore and Janet Trent, of Sanford; Harrison Moyle, son of Henry Moyle and Theresa Wen, of Pinehurst; Amanda Salloum, daughter of Les and Amy Salloum, of Pinehurst; Taylor Shelton, daughter of Billy and Shelly Shelton, of West End; Matthew Strunk, son of Allen and Christine Strunk, of Pinehurst; and William Trexler, son of Don and Laurie Trexler, of Pinehurst.

To be eligible for membership, a student must have an average academic grade of A- with no grade below B+ for English, math, science, history and foreign language and receive an approving vote of 75 percent of faculty members who consider themselves qualified to vote. This vote will be based on the student’s worthy character, credible achievement and commendable attitude.