Every month, Mr. A. Russell Hughes, Walton County, Florida Superintendent of Schools, will share a video message with an update on the exciting things happening in the Walton County School District, Walton County, Florida. Check back often to stay informed on all the activities, events and accomplishments of teachers and students in the Walton County School District.

This month's video was recorded at the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center on Hwy 20 in Freeport, Fl. We are proud to be partners in education with this amazing facility, and grateful for all they do to impact the students of Walton County.

In this video, Superintendent Hughes shares information about upcoming events during the month of April, as well as important dates and recognitions.

Freeport Middle School dads and students participated in the 1st annual "Watch D.O.G.S Pizza Night" on Thursday, March 28th to kick off the implementation of the Watch D.O.G.S. program. Watch D.O.G.S. is an acronym for Dads of Great Students. The program allows fathers and father-figures to make a positive impact on hundreds of children by volunteering in their school. FMS is excited to welcome our new Watch D.O.G.S. to our campus! If you are interested in learning more about the Watch D.O.G.S. Program at FMS, please contact Ms. Leavins at 850-892-1221 ext. 3251.

Submitted by Sharie Smith

Paxton School’s FIRST Lego League, Jr. teams showed off their hard work on their “Mission Moon” project at the Northwest Florida Okaloosa County Expo on March 14. After weeks of learning about the moon and engineering through hands-on activities, students designed a moon base out of Legos to solve the problems humans would encounter on a long-term moon mission, including building and coding two robots. Students shared their seven months of hard work by displaying their Lego build, robots, and presentation board to a panel of reviewers who questioned the team members about their moon knowledge and teamwork. As a result of their exceptional work, Paxton’s Lunar Cats have been selected to represent the 137 teams in their sixteen county region at the World Expo in Houston, Texas in April.  Submitted by Kalli McMillan

Superintendent A. Russell Hughes is proud to announce the opening of a second Walton County magnet program, Walton County’s Magnet Innovation Center at St. Joe, WaterSound. The Magnet Innovation Center will focus on STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics and will help high school students become college and career ready, especially in the area of Engineering and Robotics. This new, EPIC endeavor, which is a partnership between the school district and the St. Joe Corporation, will involve the business community and distance learning as students will participate in hands-on learning in laboratory settings.