CRESTVIEW — A summer of travel, fun, splashing at Big Kahuna’s, family reunions, baseball, swimming and camping awaits students throughout North Okaloosa County.
Though much of Thursday’s last day of school was spent enjoying activities such as ice cream sundae and pizza parties, teachers slipped in some last-minute instruction with games that included math, language arts and science components. Meanwhile, not just kids had sea, sun and sand on their minds.
Northwood Arts and Science Academy second-grade teacher Erika Holt has a stack of potential reading books for her class next year and will review them this summer, “but I will be reading the books by the pool,” she said. Her kids counted down to the end of the school year every 30 minutes with activities such as drawing silly pictures, working numbers puzzles, estimating and measuring volumes of water, and writing letters to their new third-grade teachers.
As for Northwood fifth-grade teacher Heather Williams, “I’m working on grad school at Northwest Florida State College,” she said. “I’m just starting. I’m hoping to be done by next summer.” At Walker Elementary, kindergarten teacher Selena Alford is still deciding whether to attend summer school. “If I don’t, I’m just going to hang out this summer,” she said.
Ashley Hewett’s Northwood second-graders performed a play called “Two Stories from Wayside” for visiting parents, and enjoyed an ice cream social.
As Williams watched her students play board games, such as the Sponge Bob Squarepants version of Monopoly, she reflected that at the end of the day, they’d officially be middle schoolers. “They’re such great kids,” Williams said. “It’s going to be sad to see them go. It’s kind of bittersweet.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa kids, teachers celebrate last day of school (VIDEO)