The district office celebrated the holidays with a luncheon on December 14. As part of the event, district staff donated Christmas gifts for girls and boys. Danny Garner took the donations to the Matrix Center for distribution at their Christmas celebration. Also pictured is Morgan Elkins a volunteer for the Matrix. Submitted by Kristy Grey.
Congratulations to these students for completing their certifications for Microsoft Office Specialist or Microsoft Office Specialist Master for this school year!
1st period:
Jade Dalton
Avery Evans
Mahalia Harrison
Keegan Lloyd
Lillian Weeks
Emily Casey
Noel Dahl
Joseph Grgurich
Jacob Hilligoss
Josue Ramirez
Anthony Sarriera
3rd period:
Taylor Coffield
Cody Yates
Kim Vo
4th period:
Lauren Parker
Josiah Baur
Bryce Crowder
Ming Liu
Preston Pennington
Fernando Zuniga-Garcia
Kyra Gibson
Mercedes Goldsmith
Jonah Olwick
5th period:
James Busby
Joseph Lawniczak
Alexia Lee
Roan Miller
Austin Parker
Payton Farrell
Jordan Grimes
Hunter Smith
Sara Pelfrey
6th period:
Sky Verhine
Kadren Bach
7th period:
Adrian Cooper
Nicholas Fortin
Richard Larrick
Protia Martin
Skylar Slimmer
Elizabeth Whitegon
Ridge Donaldson
Congrats, and keep up the great work, Braves!
The Butler Elementary choir gave their final performances of the holiday season on Friday, December 14th. These third and fourth graders, under the direction of Mr. Dan Browne brought holiday cheer to the student body and guests! Submitted by Tammy Smith.
Walton Middle School proudly recognizes this year's Teacher and ESP of the Year. Mrs. Nina Thornton and Ms. Connie King work tirelessly to serve their school and its students and staff, and their hard work does not go unnoticed by their peers. Congratulations, Mrs. Thornton for Teacher of the Year (pictured left) and Ms. King (pictured right) for ESP of the Year! You make WMS proud. Submitted by Kristen Nelson.
Congratulations to all of our Walton County School District Science and Engineering Fair participants and winners! Over 175 students from all 7 of our Middle and High Schools participated in the Science Fair this year! All projects were judged the evening of December 3rd at the DeFuniak Springs Community Center. Students entered projects in the categories of Biology, Engineering, Environmental and Physical Science.
A special thank you to the Hermocallis Society, all of our Judges, teachers, students, families, and our Teacher of the Year, Joan Kennett for your involvement. The Science Fair Awards Ceremony was held the evening of December 6th. Thank you all for your participation and hard work!
Submitted by Crystal Appel
Walton County Schools, through its Youth Leadership Program, participate in a county competition in December/January each year, organized by local contacts, and held at the Walton County Courthouse, DeFuniak Springs, Florida. A county winner is named each year and a traveling trophy is presented to the winning school. Special thanks to Dan Marcinkowski, former lawyer and Chamber of Commerce Representative, our teachers & students and Judge Kelvin C. Wells for assisting with this activity for the students of Walton County.
Congratulations to Freeport High School!
Submitted by Crystal Appel
Superintendent Hughes dropped by Bay Elementary School recently and had an opportunity to visit in several classrooms. He also had the opportunity to observe students unpack the standards in a first grade class. Submitted by Jennifer Nick.
South Walton High School’s faculty has chosen Ms. Bobbi Pinkston as our Teacher of the Year. Bobbi teaches English Honors II, Advanced Placement Capstone Research, and sponsors the literary magazine, the “Osprey”. Pictured are Bobbi Pinkston, Dr. Alexis Tibbetts and Walton County Teacher of the Year Mrs. Joan Kennett.
Submitted by Barbara Stratton.
Congratulations to Mrs. Carla Sconiers for being selected Teacher of the Year at West DeFuniak Elementary. This is her 7th year of teaching. She did her student teaching in first grade at WDE and has been in first grade ever since! Mrs. Sconiers helps students want to learn by getting to know them and their interests. Her goal is to also make learning as fun as it can be! She strives to build students up and support them on a daily basis!
When Mrs. Sconiers was asked about her classroom she said, "The children bless me more than I could ever bless them! I hope that my students leave me each year knowing 'Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.'" It is our privilege to recognize Mrs. Sconiers as Teacher of the Year!
Pictured with Mrs. Carla Sconiers is Mrs. Darlene Paul, Principal of West DeFuniak Elementary
Submitted by Darlene Paul.
Freeport High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes in cooperation with the Taylor Haugen Foundation enjoyed another year of providing sports equipment for the Boys and Girls Club of Defuniak. The high school students enjoy going to the Boys and Girls Club and hanging out with the kids there and playing with them. It is such a fun time to go play with them and thanks to the Taylor Haugen Foundation grant we can bring hem much needed equipment. The students also went the Chautaqua Nursing Center and handed out Christmas cards and played bingo with the residents. The prizes were provided by the Taylor Haugen Foundation. Submitted by Patty Woodard
