Ellis Island comes to life at WDE! From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Second grade students at WDE had the unique opportunity to experience life as an immigrant. This included choosing a foreign country, new name, and reason for immigrating to America. Students experienced waiting in a long line to enter Ellis Island, going through a medical exam, and a questioning session with an Ellis Island official who determined whether or not they could enter the United States for a better life. Special thanks to Mrs. Jennifer Schovan for becoming the Statue of Liberty, and to Becky King who did a wonderful job taking pictures. Submitted by Jessica Dawkins

Representatives from Children in Crisis presented the top three fundraising schools with a special recognition plaque at the Walton County School Board meeting on Tuesday night, April 16, 2019. Making the presentations were Allie Noah, Mary Jane Ross, and Kitty Johnson.

Walton High School was recognized for raising $1,623.43
Maude Saunders Elementary was recognized for raising $1023.53
Emerald Coast Middle School was recognized for raising $855.21

Accepting for Walton High School was Principal, Janet Currid. Accepting for Maude Sauders Elementary was Principal, Pam Jones. Accepting for Emerald Coast Middle School was Principal, Todd Drake.

The mission of Children in Crisis is, “Providing Homes and Establishing Hope” for the abused, neglected and abandoned children of Northwest Florida. Children in Crisis is a local, non-profit charity that has provided a home to over 700 children since opening in 2008. The Children’s Neighborhood provides an emergency shelter for young children and the family foster homes help with the severe shortage of foster homes in our community.

Congratulations to these schools, and all schools in Walton County for their assistance and generosity!

WCSD is extremely proud of our Walton Academic Team for their success in the Commissioners Academic Challenge 2019, hosted by Walt Disney World in Orlando!!   They came in 2nd in the state in their category!  The competition was incredibly tough, and our students represented well!  

The Commissioner's Academic Challenge is a highly academic statewide high school tournament inaugurated in 1986. The districts are placed in three divisions based on the fall FTE summary provided by the Florida Department of Education. Each team consists of six members (a maximum of four players during each of the three rounds and two alternates) and a coach. A maximum of six teams may compete in one competition round. 

This is not a quick response, trivial pursuit contest. Instead, it is a slower-paced tournament in which players are asked questions from the areas of language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, the fine arts, world languages (French and Spanish) physical education, health, and technology. The questions are written by educators from high schools throughout the state.

Pictured (standing) - Co-coach Jeffery Patrick (WHS); Griffon Murphy (WHS); Fisher Marks (SWHS); and Coach Carla Griffith (FHS)
Pictured (sitting) - Gabriel Garrett (FHS); Bladen Ward (WHS); Joshua Permenter (WHS); and Sophia Bock (SWHS)

The "tag wall" is a reserved space for students of the month. Each month teachers vote for 2 students. Administration does not vote, unless there is a tie in the votes. Teachers take into account the whole child when voting. This includes but is not limited to how each student adheres to the In"10"sity principles: compassion, accountability, desire, effort, time, determination, respect, initiate, victory and esteem.

After the students have been selected they receive a baseball cap as a symbol of their "crowning" achievement for the month, have their picture taken for the student of month wall and "tag" the wall to the entrance of the school. The "tag" consists of the student's initials and the initials remain on the wall for the entire year.