Hudson Kwart runs the bases. His fifth-grade buddies, Marissa Puentes and Olivia Diamond are running right alongside him, cheering him on.
Stats don’t matter here on a warm Friday afternoon on the playground at West Navarre Intermediate. Neither does the score. The focus instead is on inclusion.
The school year is coming to a close.
With that in mind, Navarre Press sat down with Santa Rosa District Schools’ superintendent Dr. Karen Barber to talk about the school year’s biggest successes, challenges and the new things coming to county schools in fall 2023.
May 9 marked the second annual National Fentanyl Awareness Day in the United States.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S., according to the CDC. It is a large part of the conversation around the opioid epidemic.
There are 13,600 children who face food insecurity in the county, according to Santa Rosa County District Schools. That doesn’t include those whose families struggle to afford necessities like clothing.
Rather than sitting by and saying too bad, school board member Linda Sanborn has started a new program to address the needs of those students who may not have what they need to be successful in the classroom and in life.
For nearly an hour of the more than three and half-hour school board meeting earlier this month, concerned citizens, most of which were with Moms For Liberty members, spoke on the appropriateness of certain books in Santa Rosa District Schools and questioned the process by which parents can make decisions about the reading material available to their children.
Moms for Liberty claims that there at least 28 books found on the Santa Rosa District Schools website that had sexually explicit or culturally indoctrinating language in them. The group provided three examples including “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas and “Triangles” by Ellen Hopkins, both of which have been targeted by other Moms for Liberty chapters.
According to the United States Geological Survey, about 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. Here in the Navarre area, we are no strangers to water ourselves.
At Navarre High School and Navarre Beach Marine Science Station, students have been making machines, known as remotely operated vehicles (ROV), that operate underwater and can perform tasks, from collecting samples to providing a glimpse at life under the water.
Gulf Breeze High School’s football stadium has been the site for a number of athletic competitions and events throughout the years. On Monday, April 24, a different kind of sporting event graced the field.
Exceptional Student Education students from across the south end of Santa Rosa County gathered to participate in the Zack Butler Sports Ability Games, a Special Olympics-inspired event that featured various competitions like bowling, obstacle course races and tee ball.
Navarre High School held their 2023 Prom April 29 at the Fort Walton Beach Fairgrounds exhibit hall. The theme of this year’s prom was “French Quarter.” Carlos Martinez and Sarah Shipley were named Prom King and Queen. The rest of the court comprised of Nick Reder, Jacob Herrera, Jacob Minisall, Renee Harris-Toliver, Piper Howell, and Charlotte Haas.
Santa Rosa County is no stranger to the military.
It is home to NAS Whiting Field and part of Eglin Air Force Base, with Hurlburt Field and NAS Pensacola in adjacent counties. With many bases in the area, there are many families in Santa Rosa County with ties to the military.
The Gulf Breeze High School choir’s T-shirts say “making history” on them, a fitting phrase since the 2022-23 school year marks the first time GBHS has had a choir in at least 15 years.
Now that the school year is almost over, GBHS is celebrating the growth and success of their choir program under its director, Kyle Sentell, who is as new to GBHS as the program he leads.
