District News

Walton High School's Competitive Cheer Team took home 2nd place in their division at the FHSAA Regional Cheerleading Competition on January 19 in Jacksonville and received a bid to compete at the FHSAA State Competition. The girls will be traveling to Gainesville tomorrow, January 31, to represent Walton County.

Good luck, Braves!

Submitted by Christy English

Walton County School District congratulates Stephanie Hofheinz in her new position as Chief Finance Officer for the District! Ms. Hofheinz came to Walton County School District in 2014, serving in a support role as finance manager under Debra Noyes and Melissa Thomason.

Ms Hofheinz states that she is “excited to be promoted to CFO, and is proud to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity under Superintendent Hughes and the School Board members.” She is “excited to be part of such an EPIC school district, and is looking forward to many more years in the Walton County School District." She adds "Everything we do in Finance is to assist in furthering the success of every child in Walton County!!"

Please join us in welcoming Ms Hofheinz in her new position!

The morning of January 29th, Mrs. Keitha Bledsoe, Walton County School District Fine Arts Coordinator, addressed the All-County Honor Band students from ECMS, FHS, FMS, Paxton, SWHS, WHS, and WMS with words of welcome and encouragement as they prepared for their evening concert, held at Freeport High School.

Band Concert: January 29, 2019 6:30 PM

Chorus Concert: February 2, 2019 2:30 PM

The second annual All-County Honor Music series will be held at Freeport High School!

The Band concert will place on Tuesday, January 29^th at 6:30 PM. The Chorus concert will take place on Saturday, February 2^nd at 2:30 PM.

This musical event will showcase students throughout the Walton County School District as they come together as one in a new setting.

Below: Selected Honor Band students rehearse at WHS

Freeport Elementary's Odyssey of the Mind team participated in the Spontaneous Fair this Saturday. The team had a great time completing verbal and hands on activities. Submitted by Laurie Campbell

The Freeport High School Capstone Seminar students in Mrs. Bump's class presented their group presentations on Friday, January 25th. As part of this program, students are required to present their group research and argument to an audience of community leaders and/or school district personnel.

We are so proud of these students! Great job!

Students researched and presented on the following topics this year:

Termination of Parental Rights
Mental Health Treatment in the Prison Setting

Media Bias

Nuclear Energy

Censorship of History

Audience Members:

Superintendent, A. Russell Hughes

School Board Vice Chairperson, Marsha Winegarner

Principal, Tripp Hope

Teachers, Hillary Williams and Vanessa Bump

Coordinator of Instructional Support Services, Crystal Appel

WCSD Career Counselor, Michele Carter

Submitted by Crystal Appel

Let’s run, walk and educate for Walton County!

Walton Education Foundation (WEF) proudly presents the 8th Annual Apple Classic 5k/10k Run in the community neighborhood of the beautiful Hammock Bay in Freeport, Florida on February 9, 2019 at 9 am.

Hammock Bay
Freeport, FL

Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019
9:00 am Start
Open Course
Rain or Shine

CHECK OUT OUR COURSE!
5K Race Map and 10K Race Map

Most race day participation percentage by school receives $500 athletic grant (3 available Elementary/Middle/High)!!!

$40 5K Walk or Run – Includes race bag, long sleeve race shirt and other race day goodies
$40 10K Run – Includes race bag, long sleeve race shirt and other race day goodies
$25 Student Walk or Run – Includes race bag, long sleeve race shirt and other race day goodies
$10 Student only timing, no bag or shirt
FREE Student – just running the race without timing

Rain or Shine. All proceeds benefit the Walton Education Foundation.

The new addition at South Walton High School is near completion and will soon be ready for students to flourish academically in their new classrooms!
A special ribbon cutting was held to mark the official unveiling of the new wing on Friday, January 25, with pre-ceremony comments from Dr. Alexis Tibbets, Principal at SWHS; Pablo Robles, Sophomore Class President; Ali Barrett, SWHS parent; Beth Hiers, community supporter; Rich Komano, technology instructor; Mark Gardner, Director of Facilities; Representatives from Culpepper Construction; and Superintendent A. Russell Hughes. School Board members Kim Kirby, Gail Smith, and Marsha Winegarner were also present to participate in the event, and were recognized for their continued support of the expansion project.
Mark Gardner stated that teachers should be moving in to the 10 classroom expansion next weekend, and students will soon be thriving in an environment with the state-of-the-art technology and equipment. Innovative classroom design will include desks and tables with dry-erase tops for collaboration and brainstorming, and ergonomically designed chairs for optional seating positions. There are courtyard areas that will allow for outdoor classrooms, and an outdoor dining patio. Overlapping and removable dividers are installed in several classrooms to allow for an open concept in teaching.
Congratulations to South Walton High School students, teachers and administration on this EPIC expansion!

The Florida Chautauqua Winter Assembly is here! It will take place January 25-27.

As Superintendent Hughes mentioned in his January Video Update, this event around Circle Lake in DeFuniak Springs and the Chatauqua Center of Northwest Florida State College is an educational experience based on the 4 pillars of Chautauqua: Education, Art, Religion and Recreation.