HOPE SQUAD

Local organization holding 5 events this week to discuss mental health for youth

Beginning Wednesday, March 2nd, the Hope Squad organization will be hosting several events throughout Okaloosa County. These events coincide with March being Self-harm month.

The dates for these events are provided below:

• March 2nd, 6:00-7:30 pm at Choctaw High School’s auditorium
• March 3rd, 5:30-7:00pm at Pensacola State College and on the Milton Campus from 1:00-3:30 pm.
• March 4th, 6:00-7:30 pm at Crestview High School’s auditorium

United for a Good Cause invites the public to attend one of the four regional Community Conversations regarding the mental health of our youth.

The Executive Director of United for a Good Cause, Peggy Brockman, says, “We have eighteen schools that currently have their Hope Squad program in various stages of implementation. “

• Fifteen of those are in Okaloosa County, one in Santa Rosa and two in Escambia County. 
• According to Brockman, others will be onboarding their programs over the next year. 

“We still have a long way to go, but we are moving forward in spite of a global pandemic slowing the process,” added Brockman. “We know Hope Squad is making a difference in the schools it is in. Students are finding hope again and are learning that it is ok to speak up and seek help.”

Brockman added that 75% of young people will tell a peer before harming themselves but will not go to an adult.  

“That is why the peer-to-peer program is so successful across the country,” she said.

Between 2018-2020, Northwest Florida (from Walton to Escambia County) ranked in the top 3 for youth suicides per 100,000 population for the State of Florida, according to United for a Good Cause.

“It is time for our communities to come together on this topic and be aware of the challenges we face in keeping our kids safe,” said Brockman.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a statewide school-based survey of Florida’s public high school students, showed that:

• 39.3% of high school students felt sad or hopeless.
• 17.7% seriously considered attempting suicide.
• 13.8% made a suicide plan and 8.9% attempted suicide.

After seeing these statistics in 2019, United for a Good Cause took on the task of raising money to bring the Hope Squad program to this region.

Doctor Greg A. Hundall, the creator of the Hope Squad peer-to-peer suicide prevention organization, will be leading these conversations. 

“Doctor Hundall has championed suicide prevention in schools and communities for over 20 years,” explained Brockman. “His expertise is not only used locally, but also nationally and internationally at the highest levels of government.” 

Suicide is the second leading cause of death between the ages 10-24, and the third leading cause of death of individuals between the ages of 5-14, according to the Florida Department of Vital Statistics.

As part of the public events, the seventh annual Youth Leadership Conference will take place at Niceville High School on Saturday, March 5th, from 9am-3pm. This event is open to area 7th-12th grade students in public, private, or homeschools. 

The conference is designed to:   

• Cultivate leadership skills.
• Empower attendees with tools and resources.
• And inspire to live and model civic action in the community while helping them discover their purpose and potential.  

“This year’s conference is special because we are bringing together kids from throughout the region that are interested in leadership, with the great number of kids   already actively participating within the Hope Squad Peer-to-Peer Suicide Prevention  Program,” said Brockman. “United for a Good Cause is the lead entity helping secure funding for and implementing Hope Squad in our region’s schools.”

For more information on their organization, go to www.unitedforagoodcause.org 

SURVEY

INPUT NEEDED: Online survey launches for Joe’s Bayou Recreation Area improvement project

The City of Destin is seeking feedback from the community regarding the Joe’s Bayou Recreation Area Improvements Project. 

In partnership with the city, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the implementing Trustee for this Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) restoration project resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. 

• DEP selected Taylor Engineering Inc., DAG Architects Inc. and Halff Associates Inc. to engage the community and conduct project planning, permitting, design, bidding and construction administration.

The improvement project at the Joe’s Bayou Recreation Area and Mattie Kelly Park and Nature Walk will provide and enhance public recreational opportunities and improve access to water resources.

Public input and participation will provide planners with crucial insight on how to better serve the community. 

• Members of the public are encouraged to provide input through the survey, which will run for 30 days beginning Tuesday, March 1, 2022. ​​

Click here to take the survey

THINGS TO DO

HoneyBee Ice Cream and Arcade a hit in Niceville with retro games, virtual reality and treats

by Gabe Rosenblatt

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to visit the new Honeybee Ice Cream and Arcade in Niceville, FL., and have a chat with owner Duke Higgs about the overall concept of his new venture, along with some of the many experiences the place has to offer.

Honeybee Ice Cream and Arcade originally leased their location in 2019 with renovations set to follow, but that was delayed due to COVID. However, Honeybee opened up officially last summer and has been a hit ever since. 

Higgs explained that the idea for Honeybee came from playing games together with his 16-year-old son.

“I have memories of going to the arcade throughout my life, whether it was me going with my mom, or me taking my son,” he said. “Arcades are kind of going by the wayside, and I thought, if I was going to open up an ice-cream shop, I want to bring back that family-oriented, arcade, gaming-experience that we used to have.”

All of the games at Honeybee run on quarters and most are around $.50 cents each. 

Birthday parties happen often at Honeybee and the staff prides themselves on maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere. 

With the location being next to the local schools, it has quickly became a popular place for students to hang out with their friends. 

In addition to becoming a hangout spot, customer service and care is an absolute priority for Honeybee.

“What we serve here is good times, memories, and tasty treats,” explained Higgs. “That’s really what we’re about here. The customers come first and many of them know us by name and we know them by name. So the way that we look at it is, we’re serving our neighbors and that’s what this place is all about.”

They also have a no-questions-asked quarter return policy.

Honeybee Ice Cream and Arcade offers an extremely large variety of drinks and food to choose from, ensuring there is something for everyone. Here’s a quick look:

• 32 flavors of ice cream.
• 24 flavors of snow cones.
• 17 flavors of ice cream rolls.
• Themed seasonal desserts.
• Popcorn/Hot dogs/Cotton candy.
• Large selection of boba/milk tea.
• Waffle cones.
• Large drink selection (Coffee, Soda, Hot Chocolate).

In addition, the arcade and game sections adds up to around 50+ games. There is a mix of retro and modern, and new games are always arriving. 

Duke works with two game technicians to keep them up and running, including help with new installations. 

Some of the games which can be found include classics like:

• Pacman
• Donkey Kong
• Popeye
• Super Mario Brothers

However, they also have:

• An air hockey table
• Pinball machines
• Shooters
• Racing games with built-in motorcycle seats
• Soccer games with physicalized parts
• A boxing machine
• And something which Duke let me try for myself, a virtual reality coaster simulation.

With people traveling from not only the Niceville area, but also Freeport, Fort Walton Beach, Shalimar, and Destin, Honeybee has gained a lot of attention and repeat customers in the short time that it’s been open. 

• Higgs mentioned he’d be interested in opening another location at some point but nothing is final at this time.

Honeybee Ice Cream and Arcade is currently located at 703 E John Sims Pkwy E, Niceville, FL 32578.

They are looking to add a few new staff for the Spring break and summer seasons.

SCHOOLS

Okaloosa School District partners with University of Florida on new Artificial Intelligence program for the State

The Okaloosa County School District will be working with the University of Florida to plan an Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Data Science (DS)/Machine Learning (ML) program.  

• The program will be available to school districts across the state of Florida.

To help make this program happen, the University of Florida will be writing Florida Department of Education Curriculum Frameworks for a new AI/DS/ML program that will be submitted to FDOE in the Fall of 2022.  

According to April Branscome, CTE Director for the OCSD, the idea for this program came directly from Superintendent Marcus Chambers.

“This was Mr. Chambers’ wonderful idea,” said Branscome. “He wanted to bring something different into our community, something that’s not being done anywhere else in the state. If it is being done somewhere in the nation, we’re not aware of it and we want to be the first.”

Branscome says there are no frameworks available to be able to teach this type of innovativeness inside the classrooms. 

• “We have to start somewhere,” she added.

The actual program will start next year and will be offered at 8 middle schools along with Choctawhatchee High School. The students will learn all about artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning.

• Choctaw’s Engineering teacher retired and the position was not filled, so there is a void.
• For the 2023-2024 school year, Crestview High School will be added.

What the program looks like:

The proposed framework courses would be programming-focused and hosted in the Informational Technology Cluster. 

• Python: The gateway course will be an introduction to programming in Python leading to certification.
• Create 2 follow-on courses that expand students’ skills in employing machine learning tools as well as expose students to ethical and social impact of application of these tools.
• Create a capstone/internship course for the Data Science Frameworks.

Additionally, the OCSD will also ensure that the first 3 courses have industry certifications attached to them. They will work with the state, and any credentialing providers, to ensure that that credentialing aligns with the course frameworks for high school programs.

“We really feel like this is going to bring an innovative aspect to our classrooms and working with the University of Florida is going to give us some mileage with that,” said Branscome.

• To prepare for the upcoming year (2022-2023), the District’s local instructors will undergo a week-long boot camp in May 2022, led by the University of Florida and hosted by the Doolittle Institute. 

“Our students are excited about this program and the parents that we’ve talked to are really looking forward to this for their students,” she said. “It’s going to be challenging. It’s going to be rigorous, but we feel like this is the direction we need to be going with all of our CTE programs.”

“We used to talk about Career & Technical Education at the middle and high school levels,” said Superintendent Chambers. “Now, we talk about elementary through the workforce.”

According to Chambers, as part of the agreement, 4th and 5th graders will eventually be allowed to be part of this program too. 

“The elementary piece is really exciting because what we’re wanting to do with the University of Florida is make it seamless, so that every fourth and fifth grader has the opportunity to learn AI in the way that it needs to be taught, that’s within the curriculum,” added Branscome. “It’s not a pull-out program. It’s within the curriculum but we have to write the state frameworks, or get the state frameworks rewritten, to make it feasible for us to be able to do that in the curriculum during the day.”

Branscome says that while it is going to be a hurdle, it’s something that is achievable, espcially if they do it for every student in the State of Florida. 

“We will continue to track industry-defined needs as we build the program backwards to elementary and further through high school,” added Branscome. “We are excited about working with other districts throughout the State following our implementation.”

ACCOMODATIONS

Best Western Fort Walton Beach has been acquired, major renovation is planned

OTO Development has acquired Best Western Fort Walton Beach on Okaloosa Island, and has a major renovation planned for the waterfront property.

David Altman and Robert Hunter of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in this transaction, which closed on February 28.

• OTO, which is part of The Johnson Group, develops, owns and operates select-service hotels across the country.

“Visitors are enthralled by the balmy weather, sugar-sand beaches and emerald waters of Fort Walton Beach – and as hoteliers, we are, too,” says Corry Oakes, CEO of OTO Development. “We intend to make the most of this property’s enviable position on Okaloosa Island.”

Built in 1998, Best Western Fort Walton Beach comprises six floors and 100 guestrooms, 60 of which feature balconies overlooking the Gulf. A top-to-bottom refresh is expected to begin in September with completion slated by April 2023.

OTO is partnering with Pond, a Georgia-based engineering, architecture and planning firm, for a fully reimagined design that flows from the building’s exterior through all shared spaces and guestrooms. 

• A well-equipped gym will be added and a variety of structural and back-of-the-house upgrades are planned as well.

And what about the iconic Swizzle Stick bar?

Plans aren’t yet finalized but that space (along with the tiki hut) will be enhanced into a full-service restaurant with an “activated lounge experience.” It will serve three meals per day in addition to bar service. 

For those not familiar, Best Western Fort Walton Beach is located less than one mile from the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center, the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park and the Okaloosa Island Boardwalk.

• The hotel is part of a strong drive-to market that’s popular with leisure travelers while also catering to military and government guests.