Congratulations to Grace Minton (AP CSP) for being selected as a winner in the 2019 district-wide Congressional APP Challenge representing South Walton High School and the Walton County School District! Grace is a student at the Magnet Innovation Center, and received 2nd place honors in the competition hosted by Congressman Matt Gaetz.
The Congressional APP Challenge was established in 2014 by the United States House of Representatives to encourage students to create and submit their own app for the opportunity to receive national recognition. Congressional APP Challenge winners may be eligible to have their app featured on a display in the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Congressman Gaetz stated "It is always exciting to see what our students are capable of, and this year exceeded my expectations...I am incredibly proud of our students for what they've accomplished. The future looks very bright!"

Pictured: 2nd Place Winner, Grace Minton, from South Walton High School; 3rd Place Winner, Collin Padgett, from Northwest Florida Collegiate High Schoo; Congressman Matt Gaetz; 1st Place Winner, Blake Gaither, Sims Middle School.

Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance’s Grasses in Classes is a hands-on, environmental education program that gives students a direct role in the restoration of Choctawhatchee Bay. In partnership with AmeriCorps and with partial funding from the USFWS Coastal Program, Boeing Corporation, and National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, CBA provides teachers in Okaloosa and Walton Counties the equipment and materials required to grow shoreline grasses at their school.

Grasses in Classes students tend salt marsh nurseries throughout the school year, and receive monthly education on local estuarine topics that meet Florida’s state science standards from CBA and CBA partners (e.g. AmeriCorps members). http://basinalliance.org/…/in-the-class…/grasses-in-classes/

As part of the 2019 Healthy Walton Summit, hosted by the Walton County Health Improvement Partnership, Superintendent Russell Hughes participated with other local officials and community partners on a panel to discuss what makes Walton County an EPIC place to live. The event was held so that local priority health related issues could be discussed, and activities planned for 2020-2022. The partnership is focusing on Healthy Behaviors, Healthy Places, Healthy People, and Healthy Homes.