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Good morning!
108 businesses attended the Fort Walton Beach High School Career Fair, including three seniors who built their own company and attended as both students and entrepreneurs. Niceville High School has hired Adron Robinson as its new head football coach, Northwest Florida high school students raced electric go-karts at Five Flags Speedway, Choctaw flag football avenges its loss to Niceville with an 18-12 win that came down to the wire, and Northwest Florida State College earns its fourth consecutive CLEP Honors Military Achievement Award.
GIVING BACK
Northwest Florida high school students race electric go-karts at Five Flags Speedway
From giving back to investing in the future, FPL is powering strong communities. Learn more here.
Northwest Florida high school students pursuing STEM careers took to the track at Five Flags Speedway, racing custom-built electric go-karts as part of the Electrathon program.
- Using STEM principles, students from schools including Navarre High School designed and built the electric go-karts from the ground up while developing critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork skills along the way.
The program gives participants a chance to apply engineering concepts they’ve studied in the classroom to a real-world project with measurable results on race day.
For some students, the hands-on nature of the program is what makes it stand out from traditional coursework.
“It gets me a lot of hands-on work with mechanical things,” said Eysner Roque, a West Florida High School student. “Personally, I love to tinker with things and it’s a great way for me to build up and kind of have a stepping stone.”
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GAMES
WordroW: April 13, 2026
WordroW is brought to you by Fort Walton Beach Chiropractic – keeping your mind sharp and your spine aligned, one game at a time.
Can you guess today’s 5-letter word in six tries?
WordroW is Get The Coast’s daily word puzzle featuring local words, places, and phrases from our community. You have six guesses to find the mystery word – green letters are correct and in the right spot, yellow letters are in the word but wrong position, and gray letters aren’t in the word at all.
SPORTS
Choctaw flag football avenges loss to Niceville in 18-12 win that came down to the wire
Diaris Morales bobbled the snap. The Lady Indians were 40 yards from the end zone with the game tied at 12.
But everything leading up to that play was just as intense.
“We needed this game tonight. We needed to show energy and make plays,” Choctaw Head Coach Jim Bay said. “We’ve still got to clean up some stuff. We had some bad snaps — we’ve been solid all year long — and we’re still dropping some balls that we just can’t drop. We’ve got a tough game tomorrow night against Chiles, top 10 in the state. So we’ll get through that game, play another one Saturday, and then have our senior night against Crestview.”
PROMOTED BY GULFARIUM
Gulfarium’s TurtleFest returns April 18 with all-inclusive celebration supporting sea turtle rescue
The Gulfarium Adventure Park will host its third annual “CARE on the Coast TurtleFest” on April 18, offering an all-inclusive afternoon of live music, local food, animal encounters and family entertainment — all in support of the facility’s sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation efforts.
- The event, presented by Valparaiso Coca-Cola, runs from 3:30 to 7 p.m., with VIP ticket holders gaining early access at 3 p.m.
“Every ticket that we sell is more that goes to the CARE Center,” said Mary Fomby, Marketing Manager for Gulfarium. “Everything that we raise through this event goes back to rescuing sea turtles in our area.”
This family-friendly festival will be an unforgettable evening, where you’ll enjoy entertainment, unlimited food & drink, fun activities for all ages, meet-and-greets with your favorite Gulfarium residents and opportunities to make a real difference in the lives of endangered sea turtles!
SPORTS
Niceville High hires Adron Robinson as new head football coach
A two-week search for Niceville’s next head football coach ended the way many in the community wanted and expected: with the hiring of Adron Robinson.
- “No one has deeper roots with Niceville Eagle football than Coach Adron Robinson, and he was the unanimous selection of our hiring committee,” Niceville principal Charlie Marello said in a statement.
The opening came after Richard Morgan resigned on March 24 following a 6-5 season that saw the Eagles lose in the first round of the playoffs in overtime to eventual region champion Ponte Vedra. The job drew 23 applicants over the two-week search.
It’s easy to see why Robinson was the unanimous choice.
He is a Niceville football alum who was a two-way star on the 1988 state championship team, delivering two touchdowns and an interception in a 48-14 rout over Bradenton Southeast.
PROMOTED BY ORIGIN BANK
Origin Bank hosting grand opening for new Fort Walton Beach financial center
Origin Bank is celebrating the grand opening of its new Fort Walton Beach Financial Center on Monday, April 28, at 4 p.m. The event includes an official ribbon cutting followed by beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres at 212 Racetrack Road NW.
The event is free to attend. RSVP by Friday, April 24, by emailing Rissa Burge at rburge@origin.bank.
SCHOOL
NWFSC earns fourth consecutive CLEP Honors Military Achievement Award
Northwest Florida State College has received the 2026 CLEP Honors Military Achievement Award from the College Board, the fourth consecutive year the college has earned the national recognition.
- The award recognizes top CLEP testing centers nationwide based on the number of exams administered from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025. NWFSC will be formally honored at the CLEP Honors Awards Reception in San Antonio on June 10.
CLEP exams allow students to earn college credit for knowledge gained through experience and prior learning, helping them save time and money as they pursue degrees.
“This recognition is a reflection of the strong partnership we have with Hurlburt Field and the dedication of our Testing staff,” said Julie Payne, director of testing and accommodations at Northwest Florida State College. “Our staff work diligently to provide a secure, supportive testing environment and to ensure that service members have access to opportunities that help them advance their education. It is an honor to serve the military community and to support those who serve our nation.”
PROMOTED BY MUSICAL ECHOES
Musical Echoes celebrates 25 years with free Native flute festival at The Landing
Musical Echoes is marking a quarter century with its 25th Anniversary Native Flute Festival, running April 24-26 at The Landing in Fort Walton Beach. The three-day celebration features performers, concerts, Native American flute music, dance and cultural exhibits — all with Santa Rosa Sound as the backdrop.
The festival is free and open to the public, with events running from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day.
SCHOOL
FWBHS’s Career Fair draws 108 local businesses, and three seniors who built one of their own
Before the first wave of seniors even walked through the gym doors Friday morning, Culver’s had already hired several Fort Walton Beach High School students.
- That’s the kind of thing that happens at the Viking Voyage Career Fair, and it’s exactly the kind of outcome the school has been building toward since the event launched three years ago.
The third annual career fair brought 108 businesses, colleges, military branches and organizations onto campus Friday, filling rows of tables where employers and students spent the morning in face-to-face conversations about jobs, scholarships and career paths.
Students filtered through by grade level, beginning with seniors, as vendors from across the region — from Defuniak Springs to Pensacola — set up shop alongside local employers.
But the most standout story in the gym wasn’t at a corporate table. It was at a booth run by three FWBHS seniors and soccer players — Aidan Pajor, Dillon Young and Isaiah Esparza — who operate Triple Threat Detailing, their own auto detailing business.
The three started the company about two years ago, working out of the back of Pajor’s Durango. They’ve since upgraded to a trailer, invested in ceramic coating equipment and hose reels, and grown their customer base through door-to-door outreach and ads on Facebook and Instagram.
- “We started this business really hungry,” Esparza said. “We wanted to work.”
What made their presence at the fair especially meaningful is that all three have attended the Viking Voyage as students since it began. This year, they were on the other side.
OK, that’s all I have for you this morning! I hope you have a great Monday. Help us shape the future of local news and make a meaningful impact on your community. Click here to learn how you can support us!
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Jared
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