Escambia Public Schools Foundation Awards $158,566 in Grants to Local Schools
September 29, 2021
The Escambia County Public Schools Foundation has awarded Grants for Excellence totaling $158,566 to 20 local school projects.
The grants are intended to support innovation in the classroom and enhance the quality of education for students.
Jim Allen Elementary School’s Amanda Hall, Rene Johnson, Chip Coleman, Anne Fillingim and Rachel Cooley (pictured above, L-R) hope to score big with a grant-funded project they are calling “NBA ‘22″.
“NBA ‘22 is a catalyst for change in attendance and tardiness rates. An environment of encouragement and accountability will create change for our students and coaches will mentor their teams to victory,” Hall said.
Here is the complete list of Grants for Excellence recipients for the 2021-2022 school year:
Jim Allen Elementary School, Amanda Hall, Chip Coleman, Rene Johnson, Anne, Fillingim, Rachel Cooley
NBA ‘22
Bailey Middle School, Dr. Roberta Wetzel, Rachel Bryans, Mona Rust Michelle Schick, Madison Fowler, Amanda Breaux, Galen Ringo, Grace Bonsall, Sara Ratliff
Brighten Up Your Reading and Writing with Watt Key: An Author’s Visit
Ensley Elementary School, Regina Smolensky
Surf’s Up for Learning
Escambia High School, Kourtney Hayhurst
DNA Gel Electrophoresis
Ferry Pass Elementary School, Cathy Melton, Ginger Maggiore, Paula McAndrews, James Benny, Dorie Nickerson, Jessica Bryan, Bill Waters
Drummers with Dignity
Fine and Performing Arts, Angela Barberi, Tanya Broom, Sarah Kelly, Elerene Walters, Sarah Ingram, Catherine Roberts, Sarah Stubbs, Brandi Zanthos, Jennifer Rodriquez, Lauralee Best, Andrea Cain, Alicia Gifford, Rachel Pongetti
STEM Art Collaborative: The Future is Ours to Make
Gifted Program (3 sites), Cassie Mense
Eat, Sleep, Code: Programming a Passion for Coding
Holm Elementary School, Sabra Kuhlman
Walking through Walls of Learning
Holm Elementary School, Patricia Swanz-Reiners, Linda Sweeting, Taryne Smith, Michelle Ingram, Jojeana Jernigan, Michelle Davison
Mission: Possible with LEGO
Roy Hyatt Environmental Center, Mary O’Connor, Adam Bretschneider
Growing STEM in a Greenhouse
Kingsfield Elementary School, Erica Minchew
Learning with All of Our senses
Media Services, Michelle White
Creating an Oasis of E-Books in Book Deserts
Navy Point Elementary School, Stephanie Gaffney, Jana Arnettt, Ryan Suero, Tanya DeGrucchio, Elizabeth Kennedy, Brittany Turner
Stories in Action
Pensacola High School, Karen Bruening
What Goes Up Must Come Down
Pine Meadow Elementary School, Michelle Williams, Cassi McGee, Patricia Stroud, Kelly Harris, Melissa Broadwater, Courtney Merson
Taking Our Learning to the ExSTREAM
Pine Meadow Elementary School, Vanessa Taylor, Karen Potter, Julie Kendall, Casey Harrison, Amber McCraney, Maxine Mathis
Making Math Count
Booker T. Washington High School, Nancy Barger
How to Care for Your Patients
West Florida High School, Matthew MacGregor
Fish Tank “Pour” No More
West Florida High School, Sarah Ingram
Small Parts Making a Big Difference
West Florida High School, John Dittmar
Teaching the Future “UAVs & CTE”
Grants for Excellence are funded by the Escambia County Public School Foundation and matching grant funds from the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations through their School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program. Grants were available for teachers of students in grades K-12. Grants for 2021-2022 were awarded in the priority areas of career/technical education, increasing graduation rates, literacy, low-performing students, STEM education, or teaching quality.
Pictured: (L-R) Jim Allen Elementary School’s Amanda Hall, Rene Johnson, Chip Coleman, Anne Fillingim and Rachel Cooley will use their grant for a project they are calling “NBA ‘22″. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Football Team Members Recreate ‘Varsity Blues’ Photo For Homecoming Week
September 28, 2021
In Bratt, Florida, football reigns supreme. Much like the fictional town of West Canaan, Texas, in the 1999 movie Varsity Blues.
And for Northview High School’s homecoming week movie character day, five members of the Chiefs football team recreated an iconic photo from the movie.
Pictured are: (L-R) John Michael Ward, Wyatt Scruggs, Kaden Odom, Luke Bridges and Jamarkus Jefferson.
Northview’s homecoming parade will travel from Bratt Elementary School to Northview beginning at 1 p.m. Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. against the Jay Royals.
Top photo courtesy Varsity Blues/Paramount. Bottom photo courtesy Mandy Griffis for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Wendt Family Named The 2021 Santa Rosa Farm Family Of The Year
September 28, 2021
The 2021 Santa Rosa County Farm Family of the Year was awarded to Wendt Family Farm and Nursery, which has three generations of hard workers and over three decades of experience.
The 2021 Farm Family includes Earl and Janet Wendt, parents to William Wendt and Vickie Shiver. William Wendt is married to Joy and they have five children and four grandchildren. The Wendt’s are joined with other family members who also work on their farm, Wayland Nowling and Angela Nowling. The family enjoys participating in the Farm to City program that provides produce for families at Thanksgiving.
Wendt Farm and Nursery, a Santa Rosa County landmark, has been growing wholesome and delicious vegetables for 35 years. It was once located on Chumuckla Highway before urban sprawl encroached upon the farm caused the family to move it 15 miles north into rural Santa Rosa County On the farm, three generations of the Wendt family work side-by-side to produce some of the best locally grown sweet corn, peas, butterbeans, tomatoes, cantaloupe and watermelon, and other fresh produce to area customers both wholesale and retail.
The Wendt’s commitment to provide the best locally products coupled with the desire to better serve their customers resulted in building and opening a seasonal market located on the original farm site, 5191 Chumuckla Highway in Pace.
Growing 50 acres of vegetables in the Florida panhandle is not for the faint of heart, and the Wendt Family has demonstrated their commitment to providing nutritious vegetables regardless of what weather conditions are thrown at them.
Beyond the vegetables grown on the farm, the Wendt Family also operates a two-acre greenhouse nursery where they have provided seasonal color for over three decades to the area. Wendt Farm and Nursery is known for growing Christmas poinsettias, Easter lilies, fall garden mums, and spring flowering plants, but few likely know that they also grow wholesale commercial vegetable transplants that are shipped to commercial vegetable farms all over the region.
The latest endeavor at the nursery is hydroponic lettuce production where they produce the freshest leafy greens available at local retail produce markets.
ECSO Mounted Unit’s Shannon Enderson Named ‘Volunteer Of The Year’
September 28, 2021
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit member Shannon Enderson has been selected as Florida Crime Prevention Association’s Volunteer of the Year.”
“I love helping where it is needed. I enjoy meeting new people in the community and meeting the children all around our county,” Enderson said. “The children of the future is in our hands in the present. It is our responsibility to help them grow and show them the right way. This is a big part of why I volunteer, to show our youth that it is OK to do good things for free.”
Enderson also volunteers with the ECSO Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy and the Neighborhood Watch Academy.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Act Of Kindness: No One, Not Even The Resource Officer, Should Eat Lunch Alone
September 26, 2021
Randall Gulley is the new school resource officer at Flomaton Elementary and Flomaton High School.
The new guy was eating alone recently in the lunchroom when second grader Alexis White thought he looked, well, lonely. And no one should be lonely in a school lunchroom.
Alexis picked up her tray and joined Officer Gulley so he’d have a friend as he ate his lunch.
“Thank you, Alexis, for showing kindness and thank you, Officer Gulley for helping to keep our schools safe,” Flomaton Elementary said in a social media post.
The school resource officer program in Escambia County, Alabama, is under the Escambia County (AL) Sheriff’s Office. And Sheriff Heath Jackson took notice.
“This right here shows kindness, love, professionalism, and what our Resource Deputy Program is all about. Our Resource Deputies have a new friend for life and plan to gain many more,” Jackson said.
ECSO Blazer Academy Named ‘Outstanding Program Of The Year’
September 26, 2021
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Blazer Academy has been selected for the Florida Crime Prevention Association’s “Outstanding Program of the Year” Award.
Sheriff Chip Simmons hosted Escambia County’s first Sheriff’s Blazer Academy in August of this year. The goal of the program was to immerse young men ages 13-15 in an environment that provides mentoring and instruction on many topics such as courtesy, responsibility, empowerment and respect. And there were some pretty sharp blazers involved.
“While this is a tremendous honor, the true value is the growth and evolvement of these young men throughout the entirety of the program,” Simmons said. “This first class was a huge success, and the Sheriff’s Blazer Academy will be a program we offer each year. We plan to expand the program by offering a Sheriff’s Blazer Academy for young women as well. We are proud to serve our community by providing mentorships for our youth.”
The Florida Crime Prevention Association, founded in 1969, is the oldest crime prevention association in the United States and serves the entire State of Florida. The program’s mission is to increase the awareness of crime prevention strategies and to network with other agencies on how to fight crime victimization.
A formal awards ceremony will be held on October 21 in Orlando.
West Florida High Students Collect Diapers, Wipes, Formula For Hurricane Ida Victims
September 22, 2021
The National Honor Society Chapter at West Florida High School collecting diapers, wipes and baby formula for the littlest victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.
The supplies were delivered to Pensacola law firm Lorium Law for transportation to Louisiana.
WFHS club sponsor Teressa Doman and her National Honor Society students collected over 1,500 diapers. numerous baby wipes, and baby formula.
“The kids have really come together and gotten behind this initiative,” said Doman. “We are just happy to be able to lend a little bit of relief to our neighbors in Louisiana.”
“It is our privilege to be able to gather and deliver tens of thousands of dollars worth of desperately needed donations and supplies directly to the people of Louisiana who were hardest hit by Ida,” said Garrett P. LaBorde, Pensacola managing attorney for the law firm.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
If 4th Graders Wrote Their Own Constitution, What Would It Say? (Hint: There’s Food And Naps)
September 20, 2021
If kids could write their own classroom constitution what would it say?
The Byrneville Elementary School fourth graders of Room 43 celebrated Constitution Day last Friday by writing their own “Classroom Constitution”.
It started with great virtues like being fair, being kind, and working hard to the very best of their abilities.
And then there were a few perfect world clauses…the right to eat whenever they want, naps everyday at 1:30 (well, except for music days), free time and free talk time (freedom of speech, you know).
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Arrr Matey! Century Library Celebrates Talk Like A Pirate Day
September 20, 2021
The Century Branch Library celebration National Talk Like a Pirate Day on Saturday.
Children were able to create their own pirate crafts and practice using their pirate vocabulary. (And no one had to walk the plank.)
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Lodge Adopts Ernest Ward Middle School Teacher
September 19, 2021
Cantonment Masonic Lodge #322 has adopted Ernest Ward Middle School English Language Arts (ELA) teacher Alexander Fitzgerald (pictured in brown jacket). The Lodge presented Fitzgerald with a $250 donation and a donation of supplies recently. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.