Freeport High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes in cooperation with the Taylor Haugen Foundation enjoyed another year of providing sports equipment for the Boys and Girls Club of Defuniak. The high school students enjoy going to the Boys and Girls Club and hanging out with the kids there and playing with them. It is such a fun time to go play with them and thanks to the Taylor Haugen Foundation grant we can bring hem much needed equipment. The students also went the Chautaqua Nursing Center and handed out Christmas cards and played bingo with the residents. The prizes were provided by the Taylor Haugen Foundation. Submitted by Patty Woodard

Five hundred pairs of pajamas were collected for Golson Elementary in Marianna. An additional $510.00 was also donated to help their students.

Students, staff members, and friends of Freeport Elementary, South Walton High, West DeFuniak, Maude Saunders, and Mossy Head helped with this special project. Carter's Children's Store at Silver Sands also donated pajamas.

Special thanks goes out to all who participate in this project! Submitted by Laurie Langford

5th grade students at WDE got to be electrical engineers during science class! They were given the materials needed to create an electric lighting system. The students had to first make a plan to design and build the circuit. Once the plan was in place, they were able to build the circuit, then trouble shoot and determine if any improvements were needed. 

Image 1 (Cover Photo)

LtR – Ayden Hurst, Maddie Baur, Emily Anderson, Rolando Velasquez Andres

Image 2

LtR – Haiden Mosley, William Duggins

Image 3

LtR – Dominic Williams, Lee Parish

Submitted by Jessica Dawkins.

Superintendent Hughes met with senior student leaders from each public high school in Walton County School District to talk about various topics at the inaugural Superintendent’s Roundtable. The purpose of this exciting initiative was to hear from the students and learn from their experiences before they graduate from Walton County School District.

A few points of discussion were Safety & Security, changes that might help future students, and the level of rigor in their core classes. At the end of the meeting, students shared some final remarks about their thoughts from the day. A few of those statements included:

“It’s nice to realize that all the different schools in the county have similar experiences and problems.”

“For Superintendent Hughes to want to hear the students’ voices is amazing.”

“I feel honored because a lot of people have a lot of stuff to say and I get to be able to say what I have to say.”

“I think this was a really great experience getting to hear that everyone is doing something different in their school, but yet we’re all still working toward a common goal.”

Superintendent Hughes presented each student with a certificate to be included in their portfolios and resumes, as well as a special challenger coin and portable Bluetooth speaker as a token of appreciation for their participation and continued leadership. Superintendent Hughes looks forward to continuing this very special occasion each year as a benefit to both our students and district alike.”