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Liza Jackson Prep seventh graders traded textbooks for the Okaloosa courthouse on their annual field trip, getting hands-on civics from inside the legal system. Niceville track and field claimed a team state title and five individual championships, and Baker’s Connor Harmon won a state lifting title. Choctaw and Niceville baseball both saw historic seasons end in the Elite 8. Also, the Guy Harvey Foundation’s nationwide lionfish program, Okaloosa’s “reimagined” kindergarten registration, and Bit-Wizards honoring veterans.
COASTAL RESOURCES
Guy Harvey Foundation partners with Destin-FWB to send thousands of invasive lionfish to classrooms nationwide
Thousands of invasive lionfish pulled from the Gulf by local divers are headed not only to restaurants around the area, but also to classrooms across the country.
- The Guy Harvey Foundation picked up thousands of whole lionfish Thursday from Dewey Destin’s Seafood Restaurant in a new partnership with Destin-Fort Walton Beach that will put the invasive fish in the hands of more than 200 teachers nationwide for hands-on dissection lessons.
The fish were harvested by divers participating in the Emerald Coast Open pre-tournament, which runs Feb. 1 through May 14. Larger lionfish are filleted for Restaurant Week, while smaller fish have historically been frozen and set aside.
“Instead of getting freezer burned or going into the dumpster, they’re being frozen and repurposed for marine education,” said Alex Fogg, Natural Resources Chief with Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
Zookeeper, which manufactures lionfish containment units, is funding the shipping costs through the Guy Harvey Foundation.
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GAMES
WordroW: May 12, 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.
SCHOOL
Okaloosa School District encourages early registration as it ‘reimagines’ kindergarten for 2026-27
The Okaloosa County School District is encouraging families to register children early for the 2026-2027 school year as the district launches a reimagined approach to kindergarten across all elementary schools.
- Children turning five on or before Sept. 1, 2026, are eligible for full-day kindergarten. Early registration helps the district plan staffing, classroom assignments and resources.
The initiative, presented to the school board Monday by Dr. Belinda Small, assistant superintendent of academic and student services, is built around the acronym PLAY — purposeful play, learn, achieve and you belong. It emphasizes hands-on learning, two daily recess periods, personalized small-group instruction and consistent experiences across all schools, including daily art, music and physical education.
“Starting at a new school, or even starting school for the very first time, is an important milestone for both students and their families,” Superintendent Marcus Chambers said. “Registering early helps us ensure that every child walks into a classroom that is fully prepared for them on the first day, with the teachers, support, and resources in place to help them feel welcomed and set up for success.”
Families can register on the District’s website or contact their child’s zoned school. Click here to read the full story
BUSINESS
Bit-Wizards honors veterans on its team during Military Appreciation Month
Bit-Wizards, a Fort Walton Beach managed IT services firm with more than 25 years of local tech support experience, is recognizing the veterans on its staff during Military Appreciation Month, including lead infrastructure engineer Cody Covert.
Covert’s path into IT began in the Air Force, where he transitioned from aircraft maintenance into work as a client systems administrator after supervisors noticed his aptitude for technology. He went on to earn a Security+ certification and served as a network administrator and information system security officer before retiring and earning a degree in computer information systems from the Florida Institute of Technology.
- Today, Covert helps businesses solve infrastructure and security problems across a network of nearly 3,500 desktops supporting 180 clients nationwide.
Bit-Wizards CEO Vince Mayfield, also an Air Force veteran, said veterans thrive at the company because the standards are high and the team matters.
“When getting the mission done, it’s about the right balance of accountability and empathy, and never losing sight of the people who depend on you,” Mayfield said. “That’s why veterans thrive here. The work is real, the standards are high and the team matters.”
SPORTS
Niceville track and field brings home team title, five individual state championships
The final day of the FHSAA Track and Field State Championships at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville featured Niceville, Choctaw, Fort Walton Beach, and Crestview, with the Eagles walking away as the Class 3A boys’ team champions with 88 points. The Lady Eagles finished second with 64 points.
- The boys’ shot put may have been where Niceville locked up the team title, as the Eagles claimed four of the top five finishers, led by state champion Charlie Perkins at 58-4¾.
Niceville’s boys’ pole vault showing was a work of art, with Asa Loicano capturing the state championship at 15-9 and Jacob Kincaid finishing as the runner-up at 15-3.
Shelby Plasier brought the Lady Eagles a state title in the javelin at 148-4, Saylor Tolbert earned a state championship in the 400 hurdles at 59.82 seconds, and Abigail Gunter had a dominant day in the wheelchair events, capturing three state titles.
SPORTS
Baker’s Connor Harmon wins state title as area lifters compete at 1A championships
The third and final day of the 2026 FHSAA Boys’ Weightlifting State Championships brought four area programs to the RP Funding Center in Lakeland last week, with Baker, Destin, Walton and Seacoast each sending lifters to compete on the 1A stage.
Baker led the local contingent with a fifth-place finish in traditional, tallying 10 points. The Gators finished two points behind fourth-place finishers Fort White and Blountstown, four behind third-place Jay and 10 behind West Nassau and Keystone Heights. West Nassau claimed the state title on tiebreakers.
The centerpiece of Baker’s team performance was Connor Harmon, who won the state championship in the 139-pound traditional class with a 505-pound total — 15 pounds clear of Keystone Heights’ Colton Hollingsworth and Glades Central’s Javier Flores. Harmon posted a 215-pound clean and jerk and a 290-pound bench to earn the title.
SPORTS
Choctaw baseball’s historic season ends in Elite 8 with loss to Clay
Choctaw’s special 2026 season came to an end this weekend as Clay swept the Indians in two games in the Class 6A state quarterfinals at the Andy Snaith Baseball Complex.
- The Blue Devils took Game 1 on Friday night, 9-2, then completed the sweep Sunday with a 6-3 victory after rain pushed Game 2 from its originally scheduled Saturday start.
For Choctaw, the sting of the sweep doesn’t overshadow what was a landmark season. The Indians earned the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed and made their deepest playoff run in recent memory.
And the future is bright. Choctaw loses just four seniors — Figueroa, Blake Peters, Isaiah Rohn and Parker Powell. The core returns intact: the Marracco brothers, Young, Camden, Gentry, Meggs and John Brown, positioning the Indians as an early state title contender heading into 2027.
SPORTS
Niceville baseball’s season ends in Elite 8 after falling to Lincoln in Game 3
In a back-and-forth regional final series where both sides fought until the final out, it was Niceville’s season that came to an end — for the second straight year, eliminated in the Elite 8 by Lincoln.
The Eagles forced a winner-take-all Game 3 after a dominant Game 2 performance, but the Trojans pulled away late to punch their ticket to a third consecutive Final Four with a 9-2 victory.
Niceville will lose significant senior talent heading into next season. Avery, Bolden, Hodgkinson, Broussard, Geleta, Morvay and Cook have all played their final games for Niceville. However, Crum, Thomas, Buis, Browning and Thomas Radliff will all return in 2027.
SCHOOL
Liza Jackson Prep seventh graders trade textbooks for a real courtroom in annual courthouse field trip
A day after finishing their civics end-of-course exams, seventh graders from Liza Jackson Preparatory School walked into the Okaloosa County Courthouse on Friday — not as spectators, but as participants.
- Students volunteered to be handcuffed during a booking demonstration, wore GPS ankle monitors, took part in a courtroom interrogation exercise on the Fifth Amendment and were quizzed on constitutional law by Okaloosa County Judge Angela Mason, who started the tradition seven years ago when her own son was in the seventh grade at Liza Jackson.
“I wanted to introduce kids to the system in a safe way so they’re not scared,” Mason said. “And particularly in seventh grade where they’re learning civics, they’re seeing that in action.”
Friday’s itinerary included presentations from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, a local private attorney, a court interpreter, probation officers and a K-9 demonstration with the Fort Walton Beach Police Department.
Students also toured the booking area and temporary holding cells.
Seventh grade civics teacher Brianne LeBlanc said the group was especially sharp, rattling off all five parts of the Fifth Amendment faster than any previous class.
- “They shined in front of a room full of adults that know a lot more than they do, but they were confident in what they’ve learned,” LeBlanc said.
Mason said Liza Jackson is the only school that participates in the program to this extent but has offered it to others. Asked what the field trip means to her, Mason didn’t need long to answer.
“It’s my favorite,” she said. “Every single year.”
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