On April 7^th, West DeFuniak Elementary School’s kindergarteners went on a field trip to the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge Zoological Park. Students are learning about living and non-living things in the classroom. This field trip allowed students were to observe, compare, and contrast different types of plants and animals. Students saw many different types of animals, such as llamas, lemurs, wolves, peacocks, and even a lion! There was a petting area where students could feed and pet goats. After all the excitement of seeing all of the animals, kindergarteners enjoyed eating lunch in the zoo’s picnic area. Students really enjoyed the zoo and want to go back! Submitted by Jessica Dawkins.

The 6^th Annual Rosemary Beach Foundation - Music in Pictures arts in education initiative and juried art contest celebrates the music of five diverse composers: Leo Delibes, Igor Stravinsky, Astor Piazzolla, Aaron Copland and Phillip Glass.  Over 4,000 students from 17 Walton County Schools* listened to and visually interpreted classical music.  Their artwork was entered into a juried competition for public exhibition. This year, 403 paintings are on display from March 13 – April 22, 2017 at 3 locations: Amavida Coffee & Tea (Rosemary Beach®), The South Walton County Coastal Branch Library (Santa Rosa Beach) and Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast (Miramar Beach)

Created in collaboration with professional musicians and Florida State University Faculty, Music in Pictures also includes classical performances, classroom presentations, and professional development workshops for teachers. 

The Music in Pictures Awards Ceremony will be held Sunday, April 30, 2017, at 2 pm.  Festivities will include student artwork slideshow, and awards presentation.

 Submitted by Keitha Bledsoe.

On Friday, April 7, FMS AVID students created and implemented an event called “Donuts for Donations” to support Child Abuse Prevention Month for the Children’s Advocacy Center.  It was held in the FMS parking lot for the community to drop off donations for children in need and receive a donut for their generosity-donated by The Donut Hole and Dunkin Donuts. FMS students received over a truckload of items from the CAC’s wish list including diapers, personal care items, clothing, art supplies, snacks and drinks in addition to cash donations.  Brenda Farris, 6^th grade AVID teacher, said,” Seeing my students help their community in such a caring way brought tears to my eyes.  I loved how the kids brought so much fun to the event.”   “Seeing these young adults work with their community to contribute to such a worthy cause was a heart lifting experience,” said Kendra Peloquin, 7^th and 8^th grade AVID teacher. Submitted by Kendra Peloquin.

Savannah Slade, Hayley Seible and Tyler Gibbs represented South Walton High School at the East vs West All Star Basketball Game at Gulf Coast State College on Saturday.

Savannah (pictured) led all girl scorers with 18 points and was named MVP.

Submitted by Barbara Stratton.