District News

FMS SSTRIDE Induction Ceremony

January 5, 2017

Congratulations to Mr. Appel’s 8th grade SSTRIDE class. 17 SSTRIDE students were inducted into the program on December 19, 2016 held at Freeport Middle School. A special thank you to the SSTRIDE Coordinator, Penny Eubanks and the SSTRIDE Director, Thesla Anderson.  

“Success is achieved by taking a dream and making it come true.”- Thesla Anderson

SSTRIDE©: Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity & Excellence

SSTRIDE© is an outreach effort of the FSU College of Medicine with support from Florida's Area Health Education Centers.

SSTRIDE©'s Mission is to identify students who have a genuine interest in pursuing a career in science, engineering, mathematics, health, or medicine and to give those students the support services important for them to develop the sense of responsibility, focus and motivation necessary for success in their chosen fields.

The SSTRIDE© pipeline begins at the middle school level and is offered as a science elective in school. The Middle School SSTRIDE© program provides a comprehensive model program of interdisciplinary science education, student development, intervention, enrichment and support.

SSTRIDE© Middle School Program includes: 

  •   In-school elective science course for middle school students
  •   FCAT Science preparation
  •   Enrichment and hands-on activities
  •   Educational field trips
  •   Guest speakers from medicine and health professions
  •   Individualized tutoring and assessment
  •   Mentoring by pre-medical and pre-health university students
  •   Parent support meetings

©Florida State University 1994-2011 All Rights Reserved.

Submitted by Dan Appel.

(Un)Conferencing Professional Learning at WMS: Edcamp 2017

January 4, 2017

Walton Middle School teachers started the new year with a new professional learning experience--Edcamp.

 

Edcamp is an organic, teacher-driven model that is fairly new to the professional learning scene and a paradigm shift from the traditional, sit-and-get conference style.  On the day of Edcamp, teachers propose discussion topics pertinent to their day-to-day experiences in the classroom, and breakout sessions are created accordingly, evolving as the event progresses.  These personalized topics yield rich, realistic, and problem-solution centered conversations among teachers.

 

At WMS' Edcamp, teacher-driven discussions included topics like differentiation, strategies for challenging advanced learners, parent communication, intrinsic motivation, and digital technology, among others--all relevant issues that impact classroom instruction and student learning.  Throughout the day, teachers engaged in insightful, collegial conversations that helped re-ignite their passion for their profession--a great start to the new year.

Submitted by Kristen Rhodes.

Special Day for ECMS Student and Superintendent Hughes

January 4, 2017

Walton County School District Superintendent, Mr. Hughes visited Emerald Coast Middle School and assisted in drawing names for the school's RAYS Rewards. RAYS Reward slips are awarded to students who uphold the highest standards and expectations of ECMS. The first semester drawing included rewards such as, restaurant gift cards, Visa gift cards, movie cards, and the grand prize was an iPad. Superintendent Hughes did the honor of drawing the name of one lucky Grand Prize winner, Olivia Stange who received the iPad. 

(Pictured Left to Right: Superintendent Hughes, Student Olivia Stange and ECMS Principal, Mr. Infinger.)

Submitted by Angela Vance.

WMS Student Receives Achieve3000 Worldwide Winner Recognition

January 4, 2017

Elrod Vo was recognized for winning the distinction of being an Achieve3000 WorldWide winner in Mrs. Amy Bennett's eighth grade reading class. He won the most points by completing reading texts and tasks and receiving points for passing scores. Two years ago, Elrod won the most points nationwide when he was a sixth grader in Mrs. Bennett's class. This year, Elrod entered the new school year determined to advance from being the nationwide to the worldwide level winner. Remarkably, Elrod accomplished his goal before the end of the first semester. Walton Middle School is very proud of Elrod's accomplishments.  Submitted by Kristen Rhodes/Laura Smith.

WCSD Teachers Participate in Differentiated Instruction Training at WISE Center

January 4, 2017

Teachers from Maude Saunders Elementary and Freeport Elementary participated in a differentiated instruction training at the WISE Center. Author and educator, Jodi O'Meara, provided teachers with strategies and suggestions for differentiating instruction in their classrooms to best meet the learning needs of the students. Submitted by Brianna Leavins.

Local VFW Presents Awards to Voices of Democracy and Patriot's Pen Recipients

January 4, 2017

At the January 3rd School Board meeting, Wade Wilmouth, Commander VFW Post 4437, presented the winners of the Voices of Democracy competition for high school students and the Patriot's Pen competition for middle school students with their awards. 

Pictured left to right are as follows: Deseria Boyer of WMS (2nd place), Wade Wilmoth of VFW, Atterol Walters of WMS (3rd place), Andrew Ellis of WMS (1st place), Zachary Seay of FHS (1st place), Wendy McCormick of FHS (2nd place), Melanie Nowell of WHS (3rd place), and Superintendent Russell Hughes.

Congratulations to each of these students!

Submitted by Donna Honish.

West DeFuniak Elementary Students Raise Money for the Walton County Animal Shelter

January 3, 2017

Mrs. Mills’ and Mrs. Carroll’s fourth grade classes at West DeFuniak Elementary raised money for the Walton County Animal Shelter. Students earned $0.25 for an A, $0.20 for a B and $0.10 for a C. They earned the money for math and science grades taught by Mrs. Mills. They also earned money for behavior grades. “E” or Excellent conduct earned $2.00 and “S” or Satisfactory earned $1.00. In addition, students who had straight A’s in all 4 subjects earned an extra $5.00 for the project. The students earned a total of $91.05 and one student donated $5.00 of her own money, so we ended up with $96.05 to buy items for the shelter.

With that we were able to purchase the following:

30 pound bag of dry cat food, 50 pound bag of dry dog food, a case of wet cat food (24) & a case of wet dog food (12), a 25 pound case of cat litter, a container of treats for the dogs and one for cats, cleaning supplies for the shelter, including paper towels, disinfecting wipes and magic erasers.

The students were very excited to get to do a good deed for the shelter and hope their hard work helps the animals in need this holiday season.

Submitted by Jessica Dawkins.

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