By Mark McQueen, Bay District Schools Superintendent It’s no secret that parental involvement is one of the key indicators of student success. And it gives me great pleasure to note that our beach schools enjoy extraordinary parental support. While everyone is busy, and it’s tough to find even five extra minutes some days, parents/guardians can support our schools in so many simple ways. With this in mind, I want to take a few minutes this month to talk about a few of those. Elevate Bay/Take Stock Mentors: Elevate Bay and Take Stock in Children are always looking for mentors who work one-on-one, or in small groups, with students who need just a little extra guidance. If you’re interested in either of those programs, please call us at (850) 767-4100 and ask for either program. While both programs have similar goals, Elevate Bay mentors primarily work with our elementary and early middle school students. Take Stock in Children, coordinated by the Bay Education Foundation, focuses more on high school students preparing for college. Classroom Volunteers: Our schools are always looking for classroom volunteers and those who would like to volunteer at school-sponsored events like Book Fairs, Fall Festivals, and other celebrations. If you’re interested in volunteering in one of these capacities, please contact your child’s principal or the school principal closest to your place of employment or your home. Even an hour a week can make a HUGE difference. Chaperones: Field trips and special events often need additional chaperones, and... Read More

  By Stephenie Craig You’re moving through life, checking off your list, achieving, getting kids to activities, contributing to the community, and working. You’re so busy you don’t notice when a stomachache becomes the norm, tightness in your chest becomes more continuous, and tension in your body leaves you with unexplained aches and pains regularly. While all physical symptoms are not necessarily a result of emotions, all emotions are expressed physically through the body. Your mind, thoughts, feelings and spiritual life are all deeply connected to your physical experience in your body. When you view your body as separate from your inner emotional life, you’re blocking an important avenue for self-awareness and personal growth. American culture encourages people to wear busyness and stress as badges of honor resulting in the ignoring of our body’s subtle and moderate messages regarding what needs internal attention. When we don’t listen to its earlier messages, the body begins to yell louder and louder until we begin to listen and tend to our daily stress and emotions. People begin to get increased headaches, stomach problems, chronic pain, skin irritations and hives, irritability, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and other medically unexplained ailments in connection with ignoring messages from the body. Your body may use physical sensations to tell you things like you’re overwhelmed, it’s time to rest, slow your pace, set a boundary, reduce commitments, tend to your relationships, nourish yourself more intentionally, prioritize sleep, say “no” more often, make a new friend, make a doctor appointment,... Read More

  Bay County Tax Collector Chuck Perdue was recently sworn in as the 78th President of the Florida Tax Collectors, Inc., the state-wide Association of Florida’s Tax Collectors. Perdue will have an opportunity to work with fellow tax collectors, state agency directors, and legislators on initiatives to improve systems and work processes for tax collectors to better serve Florida citizens. “I’m honored my colleagues have placed their trust in me to lead the organization this year. I have a talented board of directors and collectively we are passionate about the opportunities we have to improve relationships with state agencies and move forward with improvements to not only help our teams assisting the public, but to help the citizens we are here to serve,” said Perdue. Prior to his role as President, Perdue served the association as both Legislative Chairperson and most recently Treasurer. He looks forward to continuing the legacy of FTCA, Inc. in working on solutions to advance technology and increase customer convenience while still maintaining the security of issuing state credentials. Additionally, Perdue sees tax collector offices as a resource for protecting the customers they serve. “Tax collector offices are a first visit for most new residents to obtain their driver license and establish residency as well as annual interactions with property owners and vehicle owners,” said Perdue. “Our tax collector teams encounter people from all walks of life in our offices and a large cross-section of Florida residents annually. If our teams receive the proper training, we... Read More

  By Jamie C. Williamson, PhD, Amity Mediation Workshop You may have heard the adage “cheating is a symptom of relationship problems, not the cause of it.” With notable exceptions for certain pathologies, this statement is generally accurate. So, the time to protect your relationship from an affair is long before your partner feels the need to seek attention or support outside your relationship. Extant research conducted over the last two decades shows that between 20 and 26 percent of married men cheat and between 10 and 19 percent of married women cheat. As reported in Life Science Magazine, these numbers have remained consistent over the last twenty years. The difference now is that relationship partners have a lower tolerance for cheating because attitudes about marriage have changed. As more women earned higher education and entered the workforce, married couples began looking for their spouse to be their best friend, their confidante, their parenting partner, their homemaking partner, their wage-earning partner, and an amazing lover. This is a lot to ask of one person. Even strong marriage partnerships can cascade downward to a betrayal if the couple is not vigilant about turning toward each other in response to daily bids for connection and, especially, when repairing their relationship after regrettable incidents. Bolster Trust Couples who successfully protect their relationship from an affair understand how to bolster trust to prevent a betrayal. Trust is built on a solid, reciprocal foundation of predictability, dependability, and faith – the three building blocks of... Read More

  By Sean Dietrich I am a dropout. I grew up pretty hard. I am an educational failure. I had few academic opportunities. As a result, I am a very slow reader, and an even wurse speler. This is because, after my father died, my family hit rock bottom. My mother cleaned houses for a living, and worked in fast food. I, my ownself, dropped out of school and got my first job at age 14, hanging drywall. Later, I would install tile and wood floors. I hung commercial roofing and seamless gutter. I had other ignoble occupations, too. I scooped ice cream. I was a telemarketer for exactly 13 hours. In the evenings, for extra cash, I played music at local bars where overserved people two-stepped and showed their appreciation by lobbing bottles at the piano player. I wasn’t particularly talented. I owned a guitar. I had a cheap piano my father bought from the classified section. I had long hair. Nobody wanted their daughter to date me. But something about the communal glow of a beer joint changed me. I’ve had some powerfully good memories in dim rooms with clinking glassware. When I was 16, I spent my birthday playing “Faded Love” in a joint on the Alabama state line. The bartender, Wanda, asked if I wanted a beer. Wanda was five foot, even, and had a voice like a pack of filtered menthols. I told Wanda, without hesitation, yes, I did want a beer. So Wanda opened... Read More

  From Mayor Mark Sheldon City government has many moving parts. In many ways, it is like a business with various service lines including administration, finance, police, fire public works, utilities, building and planning, community redevelopment, and parks and recreation. Each and every department serves the residents, businesses and visitors of this community. While departments function individually, they act in tandem to fulfill the City’s vision, mission, and values. As a reminder, our City’s vision is to be a safe, family-friendly vibrant community that values residents, businesses and visitors, supports cultural and economic diversity, and maintains outstanding quality of life. This vision is accomplished day by day, and year by year, through adherence to our six strategic priorities. These include public safety, economic development, transportation, community quality of life, attractive community and financial health. These priorities are being addressed in our 2024 budget, just approved in September. While it is our largest budget to date, with $236 million in expenditures, a whopping 62 percent of this budget – $146 million – is for capital improvements. We are addressing all our strategic priorities in this year’s expenditures. Our capital projects consist of many large, multi-year projects that have been in our long-range plans for a while. The process of designing, bidding, crossing all our T’s & dotting all the I’s when it comes to government contracts, can be arduous. It doesn’t happen overnight, but we are pleased that these much-needed projects continue to move forward. These include significant investment in one... Read More

  By Paul Bonnette Summer has officially come to an end, even if it doesn’t feel like it just yet. Sunscreen and lemonade have been replaced with backpacks, pencils, and pumpkin spice. School may be back in session, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some fun fall activities. Of course, there is no better way to welcome in the spookiest season than with a trip to one of the many farms in the Panhandle. Corn mazes, pumpkin picking, family fall photos, and tractor hayrides are just a few of the fun activities on offer nearby. Here are some of our top picks. Aplin Farms, located near Dothan, Alabama, is perhaps one of the most popular farms in the area. Known for its fresh produce market, market, and numerous activities such as wagon rides, pumpkin picking, corn maze, pumpkin bowling, photo ops, animal petting zoo, and even live music, Aplin Farms is a family-pleaser. Aplin Farms opened September 30 and operates Wednesday through Sunday. They are located at 2729 North County Road 49, Dothan, AL, 36305. For more information visit them on Facebook at Aplin Farms. Sweet Season Farm located in Milton, FL is another family favorite, home to a wide variety of kid-friendly activities such as their sunflower speedway, cow train, hayrides, corn silo, mini golf, pony rides, and of course pumpkin picking. Those up for a challenge can tackle the farm’s specialty corn maze. This 10-acre maze offers new designs every year with this year’s design honoring Country... Read More