Jennifer Hensley Jennifer Hensley is Woodlawn Beach Middle School’s media specialist and is glad she took the job over the summer after spending the previous nine years at the school in various other teaching roles. Her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed as Hensley was named Woodlawn’s teacher of the year for 2020. Kaitlyn Hall Kaytlyn Hall […]
Superintendent-elect Karen Barber officially takes the lead of Santa Rosa County School District Nov. 17. Navarre Press asked her to share her vision for the district over the next four years. Tell us about a dream you have for the district – something you hope to implement or expand during your term. “The vision Santa Rosa […]
Fifth-grade inclusion teacher Annie Scott comes from a family with 100 years of teachers. Teaching is in her blood. “There has never been a doubt in my mind that this is what I wanted to do,” she said. Annie Scott was recently named Teacher of the Year at Holley Navarre Intermediate School, where she has […]
It’s hard for one to determine if room 402 at West Navarre Intermediate School is a concert hall or a classroom. Janet Bryan’s third graders are singing along to music by The Beatles as they work on an art project. This teaching approach is by design and Bryan has leaned on it during her 21 […]
First grade teacher Stacy Durham was named Teacher of the Year for West Navarre Primary School (WNPS). She has been teaching in Santa Rosa County for 17 years. Durham joked about retiring after claiming to have taught first grade to the daughter of one of her previous fourth grade students. Durham always knew she wanted […]
Daniel Schmidt has always had a knack for teaching, though it is a skill developed under decidedly different circumstances. A retired Lt. Colonel whose service included Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s, he became a mentor for others while in the Army. “I was coaching and mentoring soldiers as well as some of the […]
Hurricane season in Florida is a tense time for many Gulf Coast residents, and this year was no different. Although the hurricanes have potential to wreak havoc on the southeastern United States, they often provide meteorologists with context on weather patterns and how to prepare for future storms. Meteorology professors at Florida State University also […]
Whether it’s online or in print, news helps people understand what’s happening in the world and make better decisions. Behind every one of those articles and posts is a newsroom of reporters, editors and designers working to get accurate and interesting information to the public. Read the full article in the Oct. 22 issue of […]
Teaching was not always the plan for Navarre High School’s (NHS) Teacher of the Year, Ian Turoff, when he was choosing his career. The original plan was to be a veterinarian. Turoff got his bachelor’s degree in agriculture at University of Florida. “I was pre-vet, so I had all the science teaching classes,” he said. […]
Roughly 500 Santa Rosa students have transitioned back from remote learning to brick and mortar schools since the beginning of the semester, according to Mike Thorpe, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Thorpe said they have also seen some students transition the other way, leaving physical schools for the remote option. “Not many have […]
Roughly 500 Santa Rosa students have transitioned back from remote learning to brick and mortar schools since the beginning of the semester, according to Mike Thorpe, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Thorpe said they have also seen some students transition the other way, leaving physical schools for the remote option. “Not many have […]
Student activities will be business as usual Friday based on current forecasts, according to Santa Rosa County School District Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick. In an email Tuesday afternoon, Wyrosdick wrote that due to Hurricane Delta’s track to the west near Louisiana, the district did not plan to close school. The Category 4 storm is forecast to […]
Angie Alvarado is a first-year student from Fort Walton Beach High School who has had her first college semester affected by the pandemic. When Angie enrolled at St. John’s University in New York City, she did not imagine that she would be stuck inside her dorm talking to her professors and classmates through Zoom meetings […]
Hayden Steele When Hayden Steele decided to enroll at Florida State University, she did not expect to be attending Zoom meetings for her full online schedule. But that is the unfortunate reality facing college students in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hayden, whose family lives in Navarre, graduated from Fort Walton Beach High School […]
Face masks have become a regular article of clothing to the students at Navarre High School (NHS). Some teenagers even personalize their masks with fun patterns or sports logos to express themselves and stand out among almost 2200 students roaming the halls. The entire student body is required to wear masks throughout the day, even […]
Miniature American flags covered the front lawn of Navarre High School Friday morning, each one placed by Navarre Navy JROTC cadets in the pre-dawn hours of a humid September day. There were 2,977 flags in all, each representing a life lost on the tragedy-filled day of Sept. 11, 2001. Two planes crashed into the Twin […]
September is American Founders Month, a month designated to celebrate the men and women who helped form the United States through their writings and work. They were the voices that led our fledgling country to revolution and out the other side to create a government directed by the people. In 1776, England and its 13 […]
Colleges in Northwest Florida are adjusting to their first fall semester affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools such as University of West Florida and Florida State University have shifted the majority of their classes to online courses. Zoom meetings have become the new norm for professors holding class online. This can present problems if the […]
Navarre Press welcomed a new intern this week, and he’s a bit of a familiar face. Local Mycah Daniel, 22, is headed into his senior year at Florida State University majoring in editing, writing and media with dual minors in education and communications. He will spend the semester as a remote intern for the paper. “Coming […]
For the first time in recorded history, two hurricanes were in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time in August, and they both headed for the coast of Louisiana. While Marco was downgraded to a tropical storm before landfall, Laura reached category 4 hurricane status before striking the western Louisiana coast. Read the full […]
With students returning to classrooms throughout most of the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis and an adviser to President Donald Trump on Monday tried to bolster support for offering in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Scott Atlas, a physician and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said during a news conference with DeSantis that […]
To view more photos visit this week’s photo gallery.
School administrators in North Paulding, Georgia faced COVID-19 infection of several students and faculty members that forced a temporary shutdown of in-person learning earlier this month. Shortly before news of the outbreak, students posted images of a crowded hallway where social distancing was impossible. Few students appeared to be wearing face coverings. The images bear […]
More than 160 teachers in Santa Rosa County have been displaced from the traditional classroom by COVID-19. Of those brick and mortar layoffs, 80 will no longer be employed by the district at all. The rest are being reassigned for virtual and remote learning assignments, allowing students to be educated outside the traditional classroom. “My […]
As children throughout Florida return to classrooms amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a Leon County circuit judge on Thursday fast-tracked lawsuits challenging Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s mandate that districts reopen brick-and-mortar schools this month. Corcoran’s July 6 emergency order requires schools outside of South Florida to reopen five days a week in August and offer “the […]
It’s a trickle-down scheme impacting every level of government. Billions in federal COVID-19 relief funds are going to work in local governments across the U.S. as part of the CARES Act relief package. After making it to the state level, and with a little massaging, a chunk of that money totaling $32 million is set […]
Escambia and Santa Rosa counties’ only School District-approved supply drive, launched July 6, has been extended to Aug 14. Stuff the Bus works to ensure that local students have the tools needed to succeed for the upcoming school year. In 2019, the community united to distributed nearly 1,200 stuffed backpacks to students in Santa Rosa […]
The 2020 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis. This sales tax holiday begins 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and runs through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. During this sales tax holiday period, qualifying items will be exempt from tax including: certain school supplies […]
The University of West Florida’s (UWF) Office of Career Development and Community Engagement has partnered with Parker Dewey to help students and alumni gain meaningful job experience and launch their careers during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Parker Dewey offers a platform to connect current students with employers to complete micro-internships, which are paid assignments similar […]