Pictured from left to right: School Board member Jason Catalano;
Gabriella Coon, Paxton Middle School; Kaitlyn R Christensen, Freeport Middle School;
Milo D Rasz, Freeport Middle School;Mehgan M Rogers, Walton High School  (not pictured: Jackson V Campbell, Walton High School)

Mr. Wade Wilmoth, Maj USAF (Ret) 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 at the Walton County School Board meeting on Monday night, January 6, in the Tivoli Compex Board Room.

The Voice of Democracy audio-essay program provides high school students with the unique opportunity to express themselves in regards to a democratic and patriotic-themed, audio-recorded original essay.

The Patriot's Pen Program is a youth essay competition that gives Middle School students an opportunity to enter an essay expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme.

This year's theme for the competitions was
"What Makes America Great"

Congratulations to this year's local winners!

Voice of Democracy
1st. Kaylee M Aplin Paxton High School
2nd Meghan M Rogers. Walton High School
3rd. Jackson V Campbell Walton High School

Patriots Pen
1st. Milo D Rasz. Freeport Middle School
2nd. Gabriella E Coon. Paxton Middle School
3rd. Kaitlyn R Christensen. Freeport Middle School

First Place Winner of the Middle School Patriot's Pen Essay Competition is Milo D Rasz;

Mr. Wade Wilmoth, Maj USAF (Ret) Commander VFW Post 4437

Kaylee M Aplin, First Place local winner in Voice of Democracy Audio-Essay Competition

Mr. Wade Wilmouth, Maj USAF (ret) Commander VFW Post 4437

Students from West DeFuniak Elementary School and Dune Lakes Elementary School were selected by audition to participate in the Florida Music Educators Association All-State Professional Development Conference in Tampa, Florida.  These students were among approximately 210 of the top elementary singers in the state of Floridato be selected for the Florida Elementary All-State Chorus!  The Chorus performed under the direction of Robyn Reeves Lana, Founder, Managing Artistic Director and Conductor of the award winning Cincinnati Children’s Choir (CCC), Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Under her leadership, CCC earned a gold medal in the 2012 World Choir Games coming in first in the US in their category.  She is also an adjunct professor at Xavier University where she directs the Women’s Chorus. 

The FMEA Elementary All State Chorus is a unique music education opportunity for Florida students. Elementary school students with unchanged voices in 4th and 5th grades are eligible to audition. 

The Walton County School District is so proud of the 4 WCSD students selected by audition for the Ch ensemble, and their directors! 

Pictured:

Back row, L to R - Alex Gartner, Accompanist; Robyn Lana, Conductor; Nathan Hight, WDE Music specialist
Front Row, L to R - Lucy George and Kinsley Craig, WDE Music students

Pictured: 

Back Row, L to R - Corrie Sober, DLE Music specialist; Robyn Lana, Conductor; Alex Gartner, Accompanist
Front Row, L to R - Kayla Crider and Evangeline Brown, DLE Music students

South Walton High School Junior Fisher Marks has been named the Sunshine State Scholar for Walton County. Fisher is the son of Daniel and Wendy Marks of Inlet Beach.
The Sunshine State Scholar's program honors the top 11th grade students in the state in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM).
Each scholar, along with their parents, will travel to Orlando for an extraordinary two-day program designed to bring together scholars from around the state, connect them with employers that specialize in the STEM fields, and create a networking opportunity between the scholars and schools from Florida’s College and State University System.
This year’s program will bring 103 high school STEM scholars together to conduct a “think tank” on tough Florida challenges.