At the December 18th School Board meeting, Wade Wilmouth, Commander VFW Post 4437, presented the winners of the Voices of Democracy competition for high school students, the Patriot's Pen competition for middle school students and the VFW Teacher of the Year with their awards. 

Pictured are as follows: 

School Board Chair, Mr. William Eddins, Jr

Teacher of the Year 

Lance Climer.    South Walton High

Voice of Democracy

1st    Guadalupe Hernandez.  Freeport High

2nd   Makena R. Kimball.        South Walton High

3rd.  Alivia B. Campbell.         South Walton High

Patriots Pen.   (Paxton)

1st     Kaylee M. Aplin

2nd.  Gabriel I. Schofield

3rd.   Case L. Thompson

Superintendent Russell Hughes.

Congratulations to each of these students!

West DeFuniak Elementary teachers spent their professional day on January 4^th learning about grading and reporting of student learning.  WDE teachers are making the progression of grading from “earning” to “learning”.  After reviewing four challenges to take our grading and reporting to the next level, WDE teachers participated in the AVID strategy of engagement using Philosophical Chairs to dig deeper into two types of grading:  Traditional grading practices vs Standards-Based grading practices. Teachers had to read two articles and take a stance on which type of grading they thought was the best.  Submitted by Darlene Paul

Superintendent Hughes stopped into FHS and quietly sat in the back while Mr. Hope met with Seniors reminding them to stay focused, finish Strong and avoid being bitten by “Senioritous”! EPIC2 Fact that makes things POP in the WCSD:

All Secondary Principals meet with their students once per 9 Weeks! Results....Discipline Referrals reduced drastically, Expulsions Reduced by 80% so far this year and of Course District Graduation Rate has increased by 10% the past 2 years; Just to name a few! Thanks Mr. Hope and WCSD Principals for leading the way!