Micah Trinidad graduated from Walton High School and shortly after began at Northwest Florida College where she cheered her 6^th year and began teaching herself the Spanish Language. She later moved to Pensacola, Florida and attended University of West Florida. It was here where she found a love for different cultures and focused more on her Spanish language acquisition. She was a part of the English Ambassador Program and met friends from all over the globe, picking them up from the airport and helping them learn the English language.  

Micah also traveled abroad to study Spanish in San Jose, Costa Rica and her life was forever changed. She wanted to teach a love for travel, different cultural backgrounds and foreign languages. Instead of becoming cultural psychologist Micah decided that teaching a foreign language would be right up her alley.  

She has been at Paxton School for 6 years now where she enjoys dancing with her students at cultural events and allowing them to practice their new language. Her Spanish Club is the highlight of her career as she loves watching the kids smile and have fun in new places, around new language and new people.  

Micah has continued her education in foreign languages and finished up her Master’s in Spanish Language Education at NOVA Southeastern University and is currently studying Hebrew.  

“I feel that learning a new language connects you to new people and new ideas. I believe everyone should speak a second language and I love watching my students have fun while learning to be culturally passionate citizens.”    

Coach Willie Parker has worked in the Walton County School District for 16 years. Here at ECMS, Coach Parker makes an impact on his students by encouraging them to meet high standards of athletics and character. He coached multiple sports at the middle school and high school level. He is a team player that is always willing to help work on initiatives that support the school.  He attended Liberty University on a full track and field scholarship where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has nearly 25 years of total teaching experience. He also has 6 years of business experience working as a manager at F. W. Woolworths Department store in Washington, D. C.  As an athlete, Coach Parker represented the United States in Sweden in 1988 as part of the USA Athletes in Action Track and Field Team. Coach Parker has also received the Track and Field Coach of the Year for seven years in Indian River County.

“Go Girls AND Boys Seahawks Soccer Teams” from Superintendent Hughes and District Office Staff!

Superintendent Hughes and the entire District Staff wish the South Walton High School Girls AND Boys Soccer teams all the best as they both compete in the Regional Finals tonight, February 23rd, at Bolles at 5:30p and 7:30p!

Go Hawks!

Medical scientist Patricia E. Bath was born November 4, 1942 in Harlem, New York, the daughter of a Trinidadian immigrant father and Cherokee Native mother who was a descendant of African slaves.

Bath developed an interest in science early in her life while attending school at Charles Evans Hughes High School.  Patricia received a grant in 1959 from the National Science Foundation to attend the Summer Institute in Biomedical Science at Yeshiva University in New York.  She worked on a project studying the relationship between cancer, nutrition, and stress and this institute.  Graduating from Hunter College with a degree in chemistry, she went on to attend Howard University Medical School.  Ms. Bath graduated with honors in 1968 winning the Edwin J. Watson Prize for Outstanding Student in Ophthalmology.

From 1970 until 1973, Bath was the first African American resident in ophthalmology at New York University’s School of Medicine.  Bath first conceived her invention, the Laserphaco Probe in 1981, and decided to learn more about laser technology traveling to Berlin University in Germany to study the skill.  During the next five years, she developed, tested and produced a model laser instrument that could be tested. The Laserphaco Probe was patented in 1988.  The probe is used during eye surgery to correct cataracts, an eye condition that clouds vision and leads to blindness.  The Laserphaco Probe was a less invasive, less risky and more precise than previous devices and is currently used around the world.

Mrs. Bath’s list of “firsts” are many:   First African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology; the first woman to chair an ophthalmology residency program in the United States and the first African American female doctor to secure a medical patent.  To complete this list is her status as co-founder of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness.  Bath was inducted into the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame in 2001.

We salute you, Patricia Bath and thank you for your groundbreaking work in the field of ophthalmology!