District News

Junior Division State Finalists 4th from left - Aaron Wilmoth - Walton MS; Junior Division State Finalist

2020 East Panhandle Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Congratulations to all Walton County School District students who participated with students from Okaloosa County in the 2020 East Panhandle Regional Science and Engineering Fair held on January 29, 2020 at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds. Students attended the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, February 2, 2020, held at Beachside Community Church.
Walton County School District is very proud to announce our Regional Science Fair Winners and State Finalists for 2020! The 65th State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida will be held March 23-27 in Lakeland, Florida.
Congratulations and Best Wishes to All!

STATE FINALISTS!

Senior Division
• Sophie Harris - South Walton HS - Snails in the Spotlight
Junior Division
• Aaron Wilmoth - Walton MS - It's All in Your Head - Virtual World Telekinesis

Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) - National Competition for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.
• Aaron Wilmoth - Walton MS

SPECIAL AWARDS

Reliance Test and Technology
• Zoe Orange - Paxton School
Navy - Naval Science Award
• Arya Patel, Walton MS

Miracle Strip Veterinary Medical Society
• Arya Patel - Walton MS

Northwest Florida State College 2 Year Scholarships
• Sophie Harris - South Walton HS
• Naydene Higgins - Paxton School
• Tayten Lehmann - Paxton School

CATEGORY AWARDS

Cellular/Molecular Biology and Biochemisty - Senior Division
3rd Place - Senior Division
• Anzhela Gorbyleva - How Does Nanosilver in Consumer Products Affect Pond Life - South Walton HS

Environmental Engineering - Junior Division
1st Place - Junior Division
• Nicole Gross and Seri Brown - Food Fuel - Freeport MS

Intelligent Machines, Robotics and Systems Software - Junior Division
1st Place - Junior Division
• Aaron Wilmoth - It's All in Your Head - Virtual World Telekinesis - Walton MS

Plant Sciences - Senior Division
1st Place - Senior Division
• Naydene Higgins and Tayten Lehmann - Getting to the Root of Acid Rain - Paxton School

Animal Sciences - Senior Division
1st Place - Senior Division
• Sophie Harris - Snails in the Spotlight - South Walton HS

Engineering - Junior Division
Honorable Mention
• Zoe Orange - Omnipod Armor – Paxton School

Biomedical and Health Sciences - Junior Division
Honorable Mention - Junior Division
• Arya Patel - Stress on Sutures - Walton MS

Pictures are of Walton and Okaloosa Award Recipients

Regional Science Fair 2020

Far right - Zoe Orange - Paxton School; Reliance Test and Technology Award

Regional Science Fair 2020

Right: Anzhela Gorbyleva - South Walton HS; Cellular/Molecular Biology and Biochemistry - Senior Division - 3rd Place Award Recipient "How Does Nanosilver in Consumer Products Affect Pond Life"

Regional Science Fair 2020

3rd and 4th from left: Environmental Engineering Junior Division; Nicole Gross and Seri Brown - Freeport MS - "Food Fuel"

Regional Science Fair 2020

Far Left: Aaron Wilmoth - Walton MS
Intelligent Machines, Robotics and Systems Software - Junior Division
First Place Award Recipient

Regional Science Fair 2020

On right: Arya Patel - Walton MS
Naval Science Award

From Left, 2nd and 3rd: Naydene Higgins and Tayten Leymann
Plant Sciences - Senior Division
First Place Award Recipients
"Getting to the Root of Acid Rain"

Northwest Florida State College 2 Yr Scholarships
Sophie Harris - South Walton HS
Naydene Higgins - Paxton School
Tayten Lehmann - Paxton School

Second from Left: Aaron Wilmoth - Walton MS

Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars)
National Competition for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade

MSE first graders are ready for Spring! Students are learning about seeds, plants, flowers and pollination as they are beginning to see signs of an early Spring around the school!

MSE Students ready for Spring

MSE Student ready for spring

Shout-out (and many thanks) to our culinary students and Ms. Spice for whipping up handcrafted Valentine's treats for our 74 teachers, administrators, and staff members! It was a pleasant surprise for everyone to receive treat bags containing love bugs; hand decorated rice krispie treats; candy pops; and strawberry/brownie bite/marshmallow kabobs.

WHS Culinary Valentine Treats

On Tuesday, February 4th, Walton Middle School eighth grade AVID students, under the direction of Mr. Dennie Smith and Mrs. Gaby Brown, visited Walton High School to learn more about its AVID program. AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a college readiness program that teaches students the self-monitoring and personal accountability skills essential for success in college and beyond. While at WHS, eighth grade AVID students rotated through three sessions: an admin session, an AVID tutorial, and an AVID panel. The eighth graders had the opportunity to learn about WHS' AVID philosophy from not only administrators and teachers but also students in the program, even watching them actively participate in an AVID tutorial, a foundation of the program. WMS graciously thanks WHS for this opportunity, which expanded students' horizons about their educational futures.

WMS AVID students at WHS

Congratulations to the 5th grade Freeport Middle School students whose art was chosen for the Northwest Florida Symphony Picture the Music Contest. Their art will be on display in the lobby of the Mattie Kelly Arts Center from February 18, 2020 through February 25, 2020. They painted imagery from the Canadian Folk Tale "The Chenoo Who Stayed for Dinner." The 5th grade class will be attending the Symphony on a field trip and will be able to view all the art entries that day. Way to go artists!!

FMS PIcture the Music

The WCSD is partnering with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast to offer a new initiative to the DeFuniak Springs Club members. Boys and Girls Clubs already help members achieve academic success by providing homework help, tutoring, high-yield learning activities, and encouraging members to become self-directed learners.

This new initiative will assist the club to have direct access to the same education software, resources, applications, etc. being used in their classrooms. In order to fully utilize this educational opportunity, appropriate technological equipment is necessary. Walton County School District has reached out to the Boys and Girls Club through Community Engagement Coordinator, Lori Hughes, to provided 30 laptops. This will allow seamless access to WCSD school accounts for practice, review, study and completion of any homework assigned by their teachers. The goal is to create more opportunities for Boys and Girls Club staff to complement and reinforce learning that takes place during the school day.

Clubs will have access to:

ClassLink
Focus
Khan Academy
Study Island
and Much More

Computers for Boys and Girls Club Boys and Girls Club receive computers

Boys and Girls Club receive computers

Congratulations to these Walton High students for their wins at the FBLA district competition! They were honored at our last pep rally for bringing home 19 awards and advancing to the state competition in Orlando March 12!

Awesome job, Braves!

On the last day of January, WDE Kindergarteners enjoyed a day full of snow games and playing in "snow". The students enjoyed Pin the Nose on the Snowman, snowman bowling, snowball race, playing in artificial snow and even making a snowman snack from powdered donuts.

First graders have been utilizing “One-Pagers” and “Inside/Outside” as AVID strategies to explain their understanding of goods and services. On “One-Pagers” students were required to include illustrations of both goods and services, label each illustration, and write a sentence to explain one of the goods/services. The students enjoyed expressing themselves with this activity. For “Inside/Outside” students engaged with one another study for an upcoming vocabulary quiz. First Grade is committed to improving our study and organizational skills, which we will carry on with us even into our college and career settings!

Mrs. Rocketts class

Mrs. Sconiers class

2020 East Panhandle Regional Science and Engineering Fair Results!

February 14, 2020

MSE Students are Ready for Spring!

February 13, 2020

WHS Culinary Students Prepare Valentine's Treats For Staff

February 13, 2020

WMS 8th Grade AVID Students Visit WHS to Prepare for Future Success

February 13, 2020

FMS Art on Display at Northwest Florida State College "Picture the Music" Contest

February 12, 2020

WCSD Provides Laptops to Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast DeFuniak Springs Center!

February 12, 2020

Walton High School FBLA Advances to State Competition!

February 12, 2020

West DeFuniak Elementary Kindergarteners Enjoy "Snow Day!"

February 11, 2020

WMS Invites Families to "Data and Doughnuts," a Title 1 Parent Training Event

February 11, 2020

First Graders at West DeFuniak Utilize AVID Strategies with "One-Pagers!"

February 11, 2020