On February 22 and 23, Walton High School’s FBLA had a great turnout for Community Clean Up Days! They cleaned Wee Care Park, our school campus, and around the Lake Yard. They’ll meet again at Gene Hurley Field on Saturday, February 29, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Everyone is invited to come out and help clean up around our community.
The FES Odyssey of the Mind team has qualified for the state competition. The team of third and fourth grade students will travel to Orlando on April 10th and 11th to compete in the Florida Odyssey of the Mind.
The team competed on February 22nd in the Division 1 Competition at Shoal River Middle School in Crestview. They solved problem three, Effective Detective, without receiving any penalties or zeroes and scored the highest in the performance category. They placed second by only three points.
Team members include third graders Brylee Leavins, Alyssa Graham, Kase McCullers, Sophia Barrientos, Selena Vosper, and Madison Chun. They are led by their amazing coaches Teresa Tripp and Debbie Duncan. We are very proud of the 2020 FES Odyssey team!
Odyssey of the Mind is a program that has challenged students for over twenty-five years to think “beyond the box.” Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and world level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and about 25 other countries participate in the program. For more information, visit https://www.floridaodysseyofthemind.com/
STEM training (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) within all levels of education is at the forefront of most education standards. Teachers and students are learning new ways to incorporate STEM training into the classroom; one of those ways is LEGO League. Don’t get too confused, this is not your typical way of using LEGOs.
FIRST® LEGO® League is the most accessible, guided, global robotics competition, helping students and teachers to build a better future together. The program is built around theme-based challenges to engage children ages 9 to 16* in research, problem solving, coding, and engineering. The foundation of the program is the FIRST® Core Values, which emphasize teamwork, discovery, and innovation. Students emerge more confident, excited, and equipped with the skills they need in a changing workforce.
When students are engaged in hands-on STEM experiences, they build confidence, grow their knowledge and develop habits of learning. When adults coach these students, they encourage them to try, fail, and try again, while connecting STEM concepts to real-world examples.
LEGO League is growing in the Walton County School District, and students are responding. While it is still relatively new our students are hitting the ground running. During this tournament season, three of our Walton County Schools had three teams receive bids to compete in the First LEGO League Championship Tournament in Tallahassee, FL. Dune Lakes Elementary (One Step Ahead), Freeport Elementary (Freeport Engineers), and Walton Middle School (Techno Warriors) competed in the regional tournament on February 22nd. The First LEGO State Championship Tournament will be held at Northwest Florida State College on March 27th and 28th. The teams are using every qualifier and tournament to get better and looking forward to a better future through LEGOs.
Article submitted by Stephen Byrd, Walton Middle School
DUNE LAKES ELEMENTARY
TEAM NAME: 1 STEP AHEAD
FREEPORT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
TEAM NAME: FREEPORT ENGINEERS
WALTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
TEAM NAME: TECHNO WARRIORS
The Walton County Snowbirds presented their annual scholarships to two South Walton High School seniors, Sydney Balfanz and Drake Roberts.
Sydney plans to attend the University of Florida to major in biology before attending medical school.
Drake is going west to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri to play baseball and study to be an airplane mechanic.
South Walton High School is thankful for the support from our snowbird friends every year.
Thank you to everyone who donated to Change for Children last week! The money Freeport Middle School raised will help feed, clothe and care for children in Freeport! With your help we have raised a total of $1,142.72!
To encourage participation, the class with the most money earned received the opportunity to pie an administrator in the face. Ms. Thomas’s 6th grade class came in third place with $176.63. Second place was awarded to Mr. Hardee’s 6th grade class with $187.09 raised. The class with the most money raised was Ms. Locke's class with a total earnings of $231.68.
Both Mrs. Smith and Mr. Olson received pies to the face from Ms. Locke and her class.
Thank you, Freeport family!
After extensive district-wide professional development provided by Ms. Beatrice Palls of B & B Educational Consultants, Inc., and collaboration with district and school personnel, we are excited to announce the launch of Walton County School District’s first Newcomer Program for our non-English speaking students. Van R. Butler has become the flagship elementary school for Walton County’s bold initiative to develop and implement an academic and social program to support our recently arrived immigrants and their families.
Recently enrolled students who are non-English or limited-English speaking in grades two through five will receive intensive English Language Development and English Fundamentals of Reading instruction in a classroom that has appropriate and culturally- sensitive curriculum aligned to Florida Standards. In addition, the students will participate in cultural awareness activities that are designed to assist them in acclimating to their new country. We are looking forward to the success of these students and this program.
Congratulations to Freeport Middle School students Nicole Gross and Seri Brown for their first place win in their category at the Regional Science Fair!
