Sharon Dooley | sklscoops@cox.net

For a fun, family oriented weekend activity, the Fort Walton Beach Police Department hosts Construction Junction Kids Day from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds on Lewis Turner Boulevard.

The free event provides close-up interaction with big equipment in a safe environment, and the Home Depot Kids Crew Hands-On Building Kits provide an added feature to the day.

A mountain of sand allows for old-fashioned digging fun, and parents can accompany their children through educational and safety-related activities.

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Bay Elementary School’s Bay Boosters Parent Organization purchased more than $10,000 of hands-on STEM robots and coding programs for all grade levels of the school.

“In 2016 we took our first step in moving towards more integrated STEM learning opportunities into our school day with the purchase of hands-on STEM Kits for each classroom and grade level,” said Principal Meredith Spence. “It was amazing to see our kindergarten students problem-solving with math and science to build a bridge for the Three Little Billy Goats to cross.

“Thanks to our wonderful community and Bay Boosters, we are able to take another step by providing coding and robots in every grade level this spring,” Spence added.

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The Marvel of Flight Fly-In and Expo offered a two-day event geared toward education at the DeFuniak Springs airport.

West DeFuniak Springs Elementary School students watched presentations about planes, and they climbed aboard a restored World War II-era helicopter.

In addition, the students learned about flight science.

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Fort Walton Beach High School student Claire Hook earned the Advanced Placement and Advanced International Certificate of Education Student of the Month. She was selected for the honor by the advanced studies teachers.

Student Jonathan Allen received acceptance as one of 30 students from across the nation to be part of the Joint Science and Technology Institute for Students. The two-week program is facilitated through the Department of Defense with the purpose of inspiring students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

School Scoops appears Mondays and Saturdays during the school year. Email school items for publication to sklscoops@cox.net.