District News

Are you ready to plant your garden? On Saturday, April 14th, Florida Farmers Market will be having a plant sale. The Florida Farmers Market has teamed up with the Paxton Agriculture students to pot tomatoes and create a watering table for them. These students have learned a lot and are doing a great job of taking care of the plants. Come out on Saturday, from 10 AM to 3 PM, to purchase some of their plants for your garden.

Date: 4/14/18

Time: 10am-3pm

Location: Florida Farmers Market in Paxton, FL

Who: Community Members to buy from Ag Department

Plants grown by all middle school classes

Tomatoes, Peppers, Egg Plant, Squash, Zucchinni, and more

$1 per plant or $5 for 6

All proceeds go back into the Agriculture Department here at Paxton School.

Submitted by Nate Moore

Photo: (L-R) Beth Roberts, Meredith Spence, MH Carr, Lindsey Harp

GREAT things are happening at Bay! The Bay Boosters Parent Organization has purchased over $10,000 of hands-on STEM robots and coding programs for ALL GRADE LEVELS at Bay Elementary School. According to Principal Meredith Spence, "in 2016 we took our first step in moving towards more integrated STEM learning opportunities into our school day with the purchase of hands-on STEM Kits for each classroom and grade level. It was amazing to see our Kindergarten students problem-solving with math and science to build a bridge for the Three Little Billy Goats to cross." Since 2016, the school has continued to grow it's STEM program with the addition of a Family STEM Night and quarterly STEM projects in all grade levels.

"Thanks to our wonderful community and Bay Boosters, we are able to take another step by providing coding and robots in every grade level this spring," said Mrs. Spence who has been the Principal at Bay since 2015. "STEM provides students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and application of knowledge. It is an exciting time at Bay."

Submitted by Meredith Spence

During the April 3, 2018 Walton County School Board Meeting, School Board Member Kim Kirby and Superintendent Russell Hughes presented certificates to several Walton County teachers for being recognized by the Commissioner of Education, Pam Stewart, as some of the highest impact teachers in the state of Florida. After analyzing student performance on statewide standardized assessments, it was found that these teachers had a significant positive impact on student learning growth.

A big congratulations and thank you to these teachers for their hard work in and out of the classroom. Once again, proof that Walton County is the best school district anywhere.

Pictured from left to right are: Kim Kirby, WCSD School Board member; Conor Voreis - Freeport High School; Nicole Ludwig - Freeport Elementary School; Pamela Lathinghouse - Maude Saunders Elementary School; Nina Thornton, Sandy Love, Diana Gillis - Walton Middle School; Michael Farrar - Freeport Middle School; Susan Rockman, Angela Ellison, Kimberly Davenport, Jessica Cook - Paxton School; Superintendent A. Russell Hughes. Not pictured are Jessica Daniel - West DeFuniak Elementary School; Randa Dewees - Mossy Head Elementary School; and Stacey Knapp - Freeport Elementary School

Submitted by Keitha Bledsoe

April is National Autism Awareness Month and April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. Please visit the Autism Society for more information on how you may be involved in this worthwhile cause.

http://www.autism-society.org/get-involved/national-autism-awareness-month/

Autism

On March 28^th 2018 West Defuniak Elementary Kindergarten through 5^th grade had the privilege of meeting the Doctor of Hip-Hop, Dr. Blake Brandes. Dr. Blake received his PhD in Hip-Hop and Global Youth Cultures from the University of Kent. He talked to students about being passionate, determined, and about growth mindset (or changing your brain to think positively). He even created a freestyle rap about things the students mentioned they were passionate about and taught the students how to beatbox. Many students loved being able to practice beatboxing and felt very encouraged to achieve their dreams.

Submitted by Jessica Dawkins

After a successful AVID 5K to raise money for the 2018 AVID Scholarship, PHS would like to extend a congratulations to the winners of each age devision. As pictured: 10-14 Years Winner - Cage Wibbing, 15-19 Years Winner - Hailey Myddelton, 36-50 Years Winner - Michael Ward, 20-35 Years Winner - Laura Ashley Radney, and the 51 Years+ Winner - Beth Tucker.

Submitted by Kalli McMillan

If you wish to become more involved in preventing Child Abuse the Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center is a great place to start. Please see their website for additonal information.

https://www.eccac.org/

This past Friday, students at Paxton participated in a walk around the track. The students paid $2 to participate to help riase money for Autism Awareness. There was a huge turnout of many Bobcat supporters. Way to make a difference. Submitted by Kalli McMillan.

The Freeport Middle School Art Department, with Teacher Mrs. Kendra Peloquin, organized a whole school event to share kindness. #kindnessproject was an event created by art students who wanted share a little kindness to each and every student at FMS. All students were called out of class at the end of the day to visit the picnic area and participate in kindness activities. Activities at the event included making a link for the kindness chain, guessing how many Skittles in the water bottle and win, and passing out lollipops and random acts of kindness cards. Music, lots of bubbles, and laughter filled the air. Submitted by Kendra Peloquin.

FMS Art

Each year, Florida school districts take time to recognize the programs, services and resources provided by school libraries. This celebratory month provides opportunities across the state to highlight school library contributions to Florida public education. School library programs prepare students for lifelong learning, make a measurable difference in student academic achievement and enhance their reading enjoyment. Additionally, School Library Month coincides with National Library Week, which highlights the resources and contributions of all types of libraries.

National Library Week (April 8- 14, 2018) is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and library workers and to promote library use and support. From free access to books and online resources for families to library business centers that help support entrepreneurship and retraining, libraries offer opportunity to all. The theme for 2018 National Library Week is "Libraries Lead!"

Submitted by Kim Stafford