Congratulations Emerald Coast Middle School Girl’s Basketball Team who earned the title as champions at the Northwest Florida Middle School Athletic Conference on December 10th! They finished their season undefeated! Way to go Stingrays! Submitted by Angela Vance.

The Florida High School Mock Trial Competition is an academic competition in which a team of 6-8 students simulate the roles of both attorneys and witnesses in a fictitious trial situation. Students have roughly five months to organize for their roles; case materials, questions and answers, and other resources are posted on-line by FLREA, Inc (Florida Law Related Education Association). Students compete against other teams in their judicial circuit, and the victor of that competition comes to the state competition which is typically held in March at the Orange County Courthouse, Orlando, Florida. This is the most hands-on, intensive learning simulation about the trial process available to high school students.

Walton County Schools, through its Youth Leadership Program, have a county competition in December/January each year, organized by local contacts, and held at the Walton County Courthouse, DeFuniak Springs, Florida. A county winner will be named each year and a traveling trophy will be presented to the winning school.  Special thanks to Dan Marcinkowski, former lawyer and Chamber of Commerce Representative, and Judge Kelvin C. Wells for assisting with this activity for the students of Walton County.  Please see Walton County School District's Facebook Page for additional photos of this event. Submitted by Kelly Stephenson and Donna Honish.