Mrs. Dawkins' and Mrs. Quinley's students could hardly contain their excitement when the Dugas Family Foundations purchased enough books from the book fair to donate one to every student at WDE. A very big thank you goes out this very generous and thoughtful organization!
On September 12, 2014, a group of volunteers from Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC cleaned and beautified the garden at ECMS. Their efforts made a tremendous difference in our school’s appearance. The volunteers included:
Cyndi Locke
Alan Jowers
Will Jones
Kevin Cooper
Matt Zasada
Ana Garcia
Kaddie King
Youth Leadership Students Participate in a Speech Contest Sponsored by the Florida Farm Bureau
Each year, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation’s Women’s Leadership Program sponsors a statewide youth speech contest. The contest has three levels of competition: county, district, and state. This year both South Walton High School and Walton High School Youth Leadership classes provided their students the opportunity to participate in the contest. The participants were required to write and orally present a five minute speech on the important issue of food security in the United States and how Florida agriculture can continue to provide quality solutions for the future.
Each school selected three students to participate in the county competition that was held on Wednesday, September 10th. Matthew Majors, a 12th grader at WHS, was awarded first place and a $100 check. He will represent Walton County at the district competition to be held Wednesday, September 17th at the Okaloosa County Farm Bureau office. Meredith Ricks, a 10th grade student at WHS, won 2nd place along with $75. Colin Berry, an 11th grade student at SWHS, was awarded 3rd place and a $50 check. All of the participants should be congratulated as well as the winners because it took a great deal of courage to stand up and deliver a five minute speech.
Pictured from left to right: Joe Johnson, President of the Walton County Farm Bureau; 1st place winner, Matthew Majors; 2nd place winner, Meredith Ricks; not pictured: 3rd place winner, Colin Berry
New teachers for the 2014-2015 school year were officially inducted on Thursday, August 7th at the WISE Center in DeFuniak Springs. A big thank you goes out to the following businesses for their part in making the event possible: Buffalo Rock Pepsi, Olive Garden of Destin, Walmart of DeFuniak Springs, and Winn Dixie of DeFuniak Springs.
Bay Elementary School
Emerald Coast Middle School
Freeport Elementary School
Freeport Middle School
Mossyhead Elementary School
Maude Saunders Elementary School
Paxton
Van R. Butler
Walton Academy
West DeFuniak Elementary School
Walton High School
Walton Middle School
The Emerald Coast Middle School BETA Club participated in the 2014 Relay for Life and raised $7,648.00 for the American Cancer Society. They were awarded the trophy as the top youth fundraising team for the Emerald Coast. In 2013 the ECMS BETA Club received the same title by raising $5,674.00. ECMS also received the 2014 award for the Best Decorated Campsite at the Relay.
Mr. Dewayne Youngblood, representing the All Sports Association and the Northwest Florida Daily News, stopped by South Walton High School to present plaques to William Pickren (Wrestler of the Year, second from left) and Nathan Corchis (Golfer of the Year, third from left). SWHS Athletic Director Phil Tisa is on the right.
