October Issue - Santa Rosa County School District

October Issue
Parent Teacher Student Organization October Newsletter
We are off to a great start this year thanks to students, families,and faculty who have made a difference
with their PTSO memberships and by volunteering at the school.
PTSO members have already helped GBHSin the following ways:
• Funding the Beginning of school student flyer containing returning student information
• By hosting a welcome back luncheon for teachers & faculty
• Providing hospitality for the GBHS College Fair in September
• Classroom grants will be distributed this month and allow classes to have additional teaching
materials NOT currently available to students. Our budget is $2,000 but we have had grant requests
totaling $4,000. We can only meet or exceed our budget if membership grows above the currentlevel.
Here is a snapshot of your PTSO:We have 6 new and 7 returning PTSO Board Members,giving us a
blend of continuity and new ideas for the Board and school. This month two new Student Board Members
will be selected to enhance our collaboration with students. We held our first Speaker Program on
Oct. 11th with Colleen Starr, GBHS reading coach. Colleen is here to help the school improve reading
comprehension and testing scores,scores that negatively impacted our school’s “A” rating this year. Lastly,
we now have a PTSO comments and suggestion box in the high school’s lobby…your ideas are always
welcome!
Every time an individual or family joins the PTSO, it helpsus reach more classrooms and students, and
fund activities that otherwise wouldn’t happen. There are approximately 1,500 students at GBHS and
currently only around 130 PTSO members, or about 8% participation. If you haven’t joined, we are looking
to increase our ranks.The membership form is available on the GBHS website under the PTSO tab or
at the school’s front office. Please complete & return your form along with a contribution of $10 for an
individual or $20 for family membership. Blue and Gold memberships are $100 & $200 respectively, which
entitles your name on a plaque located on the Dolphin Hall of Fame!
The PTSO Board is here to help the school, students, and facultyto continually improve. Your membership
and volunteer support is vital to our success! So spread the word,help grow our ranks, and improve your
child’s education today.
Your Partner in Education Excellence,
Theresa Scroggin, PTSO President

PTSO Awards Classroom Grants to Teachers
As part of our effort to make a difference in the classroom, the GBHS PTSO awarded almost $2,000 in
Teacher Grants at our October meeting. The timing of the awards has also been improved to get the
funds into the classroom early in the school year. This year, despite not reaching our fundraising goal,
the PTSO Board overwhelmingly approved cuts in other areas to make the grants happen.
The grants are intended to enhance classroom-based learning and this year’s recipients are: Lynn
Cacace, Doug Diamond, Rory Dunbar, Ken Killam, Leann Knapp, Amy Manning, Stephen Stanquist,
Victor Strozier
We had $4,400 in grant requests and a budget of only $2,000. Our grant budget is low due to a steady
decline of our Blue and Gold donors which have fallen from $6,400 in 2006 / 2007 to around $1,800
consistently for the past few years. In addition, our overall membership is less than 10% with only 130
members out of approximately 1,500 students. As school district funding shrinks, it is even more
important to fund classrooms and improve education through the PTSO.
If you would like to help us get more funds into the classroom, please join the PTSO. The form is
available on the GBHS website under PTSO tab or in the front office at the school. Memberships are:
$10 students, $20 for families, and Blue & Gold donors are $100 and $200, respectively.
The PTSO Board is here to help the school, students, and faculty to continually improve. Your
membership and volunteer support is vital to our success! So spread the word, help grow our ranks, and
improve your child’s education today.
Your Partner in Education Excellence,
Theresa Scroggin, PTSO President

GBHS Wrestling Team Volunteers at Pensacola Beach Triathlon
About 20 members of the wrestling team volunteered at this year’s Triathlon on Saturday,
October 1st from 5 am to noon. This is the 12th fundraising event the team has held
over the last six months to raise money to purchase a new wrestling mat which costs over
$10,000. Wrestlers have also been working hard to keep in shape by attending off season
practice and various tournaments. Two of our wrestlers, Beau Doerr & Greg Manfredi, have
been selected to represent our school at the Super 32 Wrestling Tournament in North Carolina
on October 29-30th. The regular wrestling season practice begins October 24th; contact
Coach Alt to sign up.
Pictured from Left: Coach Matt Alt, Hunter Clayton, Alex Nicholas,
Zach Middleton, Nevin Shaffer, Evan Ogden, Greg Manfredi,
Manager Hailey Philips, Coach Al Gliniecki, Front: Ian Scroggin
The PTSO Board adds Student
Reps
Two new representatives have been added to
the PTSO. The newest members are from the
student body and were elected to the board at
the October meeting after a review of candidates.
The student reps, Vanessa Holding &
Alex Nguyen, are both juniors. These latest
additions will give the PTSO Board a greater
awareness of student concerns and activities
and foster information sharing back to
the students. The students will serve for the
current 2011/2012 year and if interested, can
reapply in May, along with other students for
the 2012/2013 Board. Please congratulate
these outstanding students for stepping up to
volunteer on the Board!

IMPORTANT SENIOR INFORMATION
Please see the Senior Calendar (it is for Fall semester only).
It can be found on the Gulf Breeze High School Website
Homepage
Bottom right corner of page - under Student Links.
Margaret M. Whibbs
Librarian Media Specialist
Gulf Breeze High School
whibbsm@mail.santarosa.k12.fl.us
GULF BREEZE HIGH PTSO BUY
BUY A BRICK PROGRAM
Leave your mark on GBHS for years to come by
ordering your personalized engraved brick!
Recognize your graduation, express your gratitude
to faculty or staff, remember a loved one, or show
that your business supports the school. By purchasing
a personalized engraved brick, you will help your PTSO
fund various projects and programs throughout the
school. Hurry and get your orders in by the end of
October. Order forms can be found at the front office
or on the GBHS website under the PTSO link. Please
contact Susan Manfredi with any questions at 565-4842.

The Gulf Breeze High School Academy of Multimedia
Design & Technology is asking for Partners in Education.
What is the role of a Partner in Education for the Academy?
We need community businesses that are in the field of multimedia
design, website design, photography, animation or
print media to volunteer to come and speak to the classes in
the Academy about what they do in their positions. Also, we
need places for students to go for unpaid internships and/or
shadowing experiences during the work week a few times
during the school year. Students need to experience the applications
they are learning in the classroom out in the realworld.
If you are interested, please contact Heather Renfroe,
Coordinator & Instructor for the Academy of Multimedia
Design & Technology at renfroh@mail.santarosa.k12.fl.us or
850.916.4100 ext. 4870.
NEHS Spelling Hornet quite the buzz
There were no empty chairs at any of the Media Center tables and few in the participants’ rows
at the first National English Honor Society (NEHS) Spelling Hornet on October 5. Teachers and students,
dressed as their favorite celebrities for homecoming, were alternately rapt and raucous as 17 teachers and
administrators competed for the 1st Place trophy by spelling slang words compiled by NEHS members.
The participants were eliminated one by one by words such as “pwned” to the accompanying sound of a
cowbell, loaned by the award-winning Sound Wave Band. The Final Four—Mrs. Renfroe, Mrs. Ewens,
Mrs. Turner, and Mrs. Morren—forged forward to the sound of an antique desk bell (thank you to our
school nurse, Mrs. Leonard), but all eventually heard the cowbell except for Mrs. Renfroe, who now
proudly displays the trophy in her classroom.
Other NEHS programs soon to be underway this semester include a Writing Lab (Monday &
Wednesday morning tutoring before school in the Eng/SS Lab), the African Library Project (a drive for
children’s books and funds for shipping them to schools in Lesotho), and the NEHS Lyceum, which will
begin with New York City writer Will Davis on November 9.

Semifinalists Named in the 2012
National Merit Scholarship Program
Congratulations to seniors, Brandon Harper
and Alexander Meade for being recognized as National
Merit Semifinalists. About 1.5 million juniors
in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2012
National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the
2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT) which served as an initial
screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of
Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent
of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highestscoring
entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists
in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage
of the national total of graduating seniors.
These academically talented high school
seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the
competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships
worth more than $34 million that will be offered
next spring. We wish them the best as they
continue on toward the Finalist level.
National Achievement
Scholarship Program
Congratulations to Summer
K. Andrews ! Summer
is one of approximately 1,600
black Americans who are Semifinalists
in the 2012 National
Achievement Scholarship Program.
Summer qualified as a
Semifinalist based on her test
performance on the 2010 PSAT.
Qualifying as a Semifinalist is
the first step in the competition
for National Achievement
Scholarships. Best of luck
Summer as you advance toward
Finalist.

ROTC Flying High
This year’s JROTC program is not only flying high with over 100 students enrolled in
classes, but they have been literally flying through the air twice this Fall. Twelve cadets copiloted
Cessna 172s with the Civil Air Patrol in September. The Air Force paid for the entire
trip which made parents even happier. Later that same month, fifty-three students traveled
to Adventures Unlimited and flew through the pines with the aid of a zip-line. This trip was
mostly paid for by fundraising both this and last year and partially by the Air Force. The
cadets were also joined by active duty Air Force Survival Instructors who demonstrated how
to make fires, and build survival shelters.

GBHS SOUNDWAVE
BAND
ARTICLE AND PHOTO
FOR THE BLUE AND
GOLD NEWSPAPER
The Soundwave Band is off to an
exciting start this year! Eighty six members
strong, including twenty-one new freshmen,
the band has been perfecting their show
entitled “Latin Jazz of Stan Kenton”. This
season’s theme is based on Latin jazz music
and spotlights solo performances by Seth
Traylor, Nolan Blackford, Kaitlyn Gifford and
Brandon Addison on trumpets, Rhett Legendre
on baritone and Zach Meehan on trombone.
In addition to playing at all football
games, the band has been busy participating in
numerous other activities. September included
All-State auditions, a trip to Tallahassee to participate
in the FSU Band Day as well as a Day
of Percussion for the Drumline held at Escambia
High School. October has three competitions
scheduled including the Pace Marching
Contest, the Florida Bandmasters Association
Marching Band Competition at Tate High and
the Choctaw Marching Contest.
One of the goals for this year is to raise
$60,000.00 for the purchase of new uniforms.
The Soundwave members are completing their
second fundraiser this week. The 8th Annual
Gulf Breeze High School Soundwave Band
Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, November
12, 2011 at The Club at Hidden Creek.
Please join us for a fun day of golfing and help
purchase these much needed new uniforms!
For more information contact Rob Engel,
Golf Tournament Director, at
robengel2003@hotmail.com.
The Soundwave is directed by Mr. Neal
McLeod and Mr. Jason Olson who is returning
for his second season as Assistant Band Director.
Go Soundwave!
In 2007, Douglas Balwin graduated from
Gulf Breeze High School as the star wide receiver and punt
returner. On September 1st, 2007 Doug stepped into Stanford
College’s stadium for his first college football game
against UCLA, to whom they lost 17-45. That season Stanford
only had 4 wins but 8 losses. By his senior year in college,
Doug had climbed to a starting position on Stanford’s
team, despite a coaching change in 2007 (after Doug was
recruited). That year, Doug contributed to the Cardinals 12-1
season in which they also went to the Orange Bowl to beat
Virginia Tech 40-12. After not being drafted in the April
NFL draft, on July 26, 2010 Doug signed with the Seattle
Sea Hawks as an undrafted rookie free agent. Since then
Doug has proven himself to the Sea Hawks by receiving for
330 yards and 2 touchdowns in only the 5 games that he has
played in the regular season. He is now on Seattle’s starting
roster. On October 14th, Doug came back to Gulf Breeze to
talk to students at FCA.
Doug’s main message was to control what you can
control and let god do the rest. At only 5’10 many people
over looked Doug as a football player. But he says, “I
couldn’t control that. I could only control my effort and
behavior on and off the football field.”

GBHS Debate Team kicks-off their
competition season at the top
The Gulf Breeze High School Debate Team started their competition season with a bang! At Ft. Walton Beach High
School on October 15th the team demonstrated some incredible skill in the art of debating. After prepping for the past
month on individual event topics, the team and coach, Mr. Steven Stanquist, were all confident in their ability at this
first competition.
Thirty-five students boarded the bus Saturday morning to compete, and fourteen of them brought home some
hardware for their hard work. The swept the competition away in the Public Forum Debates, PFD for short, winning
the first six spots in the competition. In first place were two newcomers to the team, the duo of Sophomores Helena
Rivera and Maggie Player. In second place was the team of Danielle Lieneman and Eliza Jones, both Juniors, and in
third came the team of Senior Olivia Wise and Sophomore Colton Curtis. All three teams went four and zero in the
rounds, beating every team they competed against. The only way to establish a first, second, and third place was to
count up speaking points earned by the PFD teams!
In the Lincoln Douglass Debates, or LD Debates, the students representing Gulf Breeze High School were all
new to the team. Awarded first place was Sophomore Millie Hizer, in her first appearance debating. Third place went
out to Junior Alex Richmond, who has competed in LD before in his home state of Oklahoma.
Sweeping first, second, and third place in Extemporaneous Speaking, abbreviated as Extemp, Gulf Breeze
High School continued to rack up trophies at this first competition. Senior Summer Andrews took home first place,
while Sophomore Bianca Phillips was awarded second, and Joshua Elliott third place. All three were new to the debate
team, and were ecstatic to do so well at their first competition.
In the Congressional debates, Junior Hailey Philips took home third place out of a room of twenty-four students.
In the IE performances, Junior Katherine Farmer took home first place in the Orignial Oratory category, giving
a speech about her life and past experiences. In the Dramatic Performance category, Senior Michael Demahy was
awarded with second place and Sophomore Sarah Lemon took home third place. Michael Demahy, who is a veteran
on the Gulf Breeze High School Debate Team, was been working on his piece since this past summer.
The team has continued to step up its game from its outstanding performances last year, and is currently prepping for
a competition in Gainsville, FL over Halloween weekend. Gaining many new members, the team did a great job of
coming together and supporting each other. In the words of Junior Eliza Jones, “One truly doesn’t know how close a
team is until we win together, and this weekend we really became a team, because we dominated together!”
Hailey Philips

BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB
The Book of the Month Club’s first meeting had almost 70 students participate with
the titles Fallen, Beautiful Creature and Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. There were
several lively book discussions taking place in the library.
Students enjoyed refreshments consisting of bakery cookies from Wal-Mart and bottled
water, provided courtesy of the English Department.
The students are enthusiastic and ready to start reading for the next BOM Club Meeting
November 10, 2nd period, in the Library. New titles will be announced soon!
The Reading Leadership Team has asked the SAC committee for funds, submitted a
grant application to PTSO for funds and we are swapping books with Navarre High’s Reading
Coach.
We are also soliciting clubs for refreshment donations. The Young Republicans are on
board for providing refreshments for the next BOM Club Meeting.
Any and all help is appreciated.
Earth/Space Science star gaze
Mrs. Dykstra held her first star gaze of the year on Thursday
October 13 at Shoreline Park. She was assisted by members
of the Escambia Amateur Astronomy Association. The clear
skies offered great views of the moon and Jupiter and its
moons. We also took a tour through the constellations and
viewed binary stars, galaxies, and star clusters. There will
be more star gazes to come this year and all are welcome
(with or without telescopes!).

Ronald McDonald House Fire Truck Pull – October 1st
ABC Club, Jr. Optimist Club, Key Club, and Rho Kappa.
Dolphin DCT

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Media Advisory
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mobile:
Robyn Philips, Vice President- Awards & Education/PAO
Blue Angels Pensacola AFCEA Chapter
850.501.0537/ Email: rphilips@appriver.com
October 18, 2011
Pensacola Chapter Awards 2011 Fund Raiser Golf Tournament Scholarships and STTA program
The Blue Angels Pensacola Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association
(AFCEA) is pleased to announce its scholarship awards. The following scholarships will be awarded.
Two scholarships will be awarded—one for $800.00 to Pensacola State College, and one for $1200.00 to
the University of West Florida (profits from Golf Tournament Fundraiser held September 24th, 2011).
One $1,000 Science Teaching Tools grant (2010-2011) will be awarded, a joint effort between the
individual Blue Angels Pensacola Chapter and the AFCEA Educational Foundation to promote effective
science teaching and to enhance the abilities of capable teachers in K-12 schools. The recipient of the
$1,000 Scholarship for a high school STEM teacher to purchase supplies and/or equipment that would
augment their science and/or information technology activities in the classroom is Susan Cundiff, Gulf
Breeze High School, Gulf Breeze, FL for her submitted grant request proposed project: Getting Excited
About STEM.
For more information please visit the organizations website at: www.afceapns.org.
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