Community Archive

Navarre High School has named their ESOL Teacher of the Year! Karen Cody, who has taught at the school on and off again since 1996, has been recognized as the 2024 ESOL Teacher of the Year. ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. In 2023, Cody was named Teacher of the Year for Santa Rosa District Schools.

It has been seven months since Israel was attacked by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023. In the wake of that terrorist attack, which left 1,200 dead, around 250 Israeli men, women and children were taken hostage.

Students at Holley Navarre Intermediate School went above and beyond this year to help solidify a tradition of giving started last year by Amie Teschel, a fourth-grade teacher. Every participating class of students competes in a donation item drive, and the class with the most items wins a special in-class visit from Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge (ECWR) and some of their ambassadors.

For the first time in roughly 20 years, the Hurlburt Field Airpark is open to the general public.

While the airpark has been unofficially available for public use since April 11, 1st Special Operations Wing (1SOW) Commander Col. Patrick Dierig and others with Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) held a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday to formally welcome community members to the outdoor museum.

The Navarre Library, partnered with Santa Rosa County Animal Services, will be the first to participate in “Furry Friend Friday,” a new community outreach event starting Fri., Apr. 26, 2 – 3 p.m. at 8484 James M. Harvell Road in Navarre.

Mt. Everest stands at 29,031.7 ft. above sea level. The tallest mountain on Earth, it has inspired countless generations of explorers around the world. Recently, a Navarre resident got an up-close look at the mountain on the trip of a lifetime.

More than 200 dogs and even more humans gathered at Pik-itz on April 13 for a day full of peace, love, music, and pups at the Navarre Chamber’s Inaugural WOOFSTOCK 2024. The costume contest was competitive, with golden doodles dressed as hippies, bulldogs in wigs, Terriers in overalls, and golden retrievers with scrunchies on their paws.

Homeschool teenagers from all over Santa Rosa County gathered in the gymnasium of Gulf Pointe Latin School on East Bay Blvd. for the Navarre Homeschool Prom April 6. This event is put together by Santa Rosa County parents from Navarre to Milton every year.

“An answered prayer.”

That’s how Austyn Evans describes knowing her two-year-old son, Conrad, now has a kidney after an agonizing search for a donor. Although the search took them from Northwest Florida to Texas and then to Georgia, the donor turned out to be closer to home (in fact, the donor lives in their home).

Shigeko Honda, who was director of the University of West Florida Japan Center and Japan House for 26 years, has been awarded the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays. Honda was recognized at an event on UWF’s Pensacola campus on April 1 which celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Japan House.