Published: July 01, 2008 10:48 pm         

IHS student wins BETA contest

Independence High School has a student to brag about for her talent, and in this case it wasn’t because of athletic prowess but because of artistic gifts.

Devyn Proffitt-McDaniel of Crab Orchard won first place in the category of colored pencil sketching against 27 other submissions at the National BETA Club senior convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C., earlier this month.

More impressive is that Devyn became a national champion by having the best still-life sketch in what was really the first competition she ever entered.

“I didn’t think I could win,” she said. “I was walking around the convention and there were a lot of very talented people there.”

Devyn was invited to enter the national competition after winning first place for colored pencil drawing and Best of Show in the overall category of arts and crafts at the West Virginia BETA Club convention in Charleston last November. Her submission to the state competition was a colored pencil drawing of a geisha holding a fan.

Proffitt’s mother, Vicki McDaniel, was happy and surprised for her daughter’s success because Devyn has been drawing her whole life but never received this type of recognition for her artistic talent.

“Since she was old enough to have crayons in her hands (she has been drawing),” McDaniel said. “She has never had professional training. It’s just a God-given talent.”

Proffitt got involved in the competition through her membership with Independence’s BETA Club as a junior. The National BETA Club is an honor society made up of 11th- and 12th-graders who exhibit leadership skills and maintain good grades.

The National BETA Convention is held each June and brings together members from 18 other states. Devyn was the only student from West Virginia to receive a first-place award at the convention.

Devyn’s favorite things to draw are cartoon characters, especially Japanese anime characters. She is considering attending either Shepherd University or Virginia Tech following her senior year at Independence, and she hopes to become a college art professor.

— E-mail: bdalek@register-herald.comf