Destin Middle School

05/29/2026

Congratulations to Ms. Farland and Ms. Markey on their retirement! 🎉

Thank you both for the countless lives you’ve impacted through your dedication, compassion, and commitment to students over the years. The legacy you leave at Destin Middle School reaches far beyond the classroom walls.

We are grateful for the time, heart, and wisdom you poured into our school community, and we wish you both nothing but happiness and relaxation in this next chapter.

Once a Marlin, always a Marlin. 🩵🖤

05/28/2026

Way to go, Lilly! 🎉

The 1st Place winner of the 250th-Anniversary Essay Writing Contest is Lilly Lopez! In a timed 40 minutes, this 8th-grader hand-wrote a remarkably articulated & well organized argument supporting the American Colonial grievance of “no taxation without representation.” Thank you to the Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida for organizing the contest & the competition’s monetary awards, and to the faculty & students who participated.

Okaloosa County School District
Florida Department of State

05/27/2026

Congratulations to our three FAST testing incentive basket winners! 🎉

We are proud of the hard work, growth, and effort these students showed during FAST testing. Thank you to our amazing PTSA and Team Boynton for donating Apple AirPods, and to School Board Member Parker Destin for donating candy and Dewey Destin’s gift cards to help celebrate our students in such a fun and meaningful way!

We also appreciate our community sponsors, Chick-fil-A and Big Kahuna’s, for supporting our Marlins and helping make these celebrations extra special. 🩵🖤

05/21/2026

Congratulations to our 5th grade participants in the Climb to Success reading challenge! 📚🎉

This group took on the challenge created by Ms. Mikel to read novels from the Florida B.E.S.T. reading list and worked hard throughout the process. Today, they celebrated by creating their own beaded bookmarks!

We are proud of these students for participating in the challenge and continuing to grow as readers. 🩵🖤

05/19/2026

Congratulations to our May Students of the Month at Destin Middle School! 🎉

These Marlins have demonstrated hard work, leadership, kindness, and what it means to represent The Marlin Way each day. We are proud to celebrate their accomplishments!

⭐ 5th Grade: Gabriella Mendez & Axel Nguyen
⭐ 6th Grade: Emory Anderson-Pritchett & River McDonald (not pictured)
⭐ 7th Grade: Genesis Mungia-Garcia & Mason Corrente (not pictured)
⭐ 8th Grade: Khatya Francis & Erick Barrios-Fuerte

Keep up the great work, Marlins! 🩵🖤

05/08/2026

As we wrap up Teacher Appreciation Week, we want to sincerely thank everyone who helped make this week so special for our staff at Destin Middle School.

This morning’s drinks were generously provided by Re’Vi Aesthetics, made by Coastal Protein & Energy, and our delicious lunch was made possible by our amazing DMS families and PTSA.

Our teachers and staff felt the love all week long, and we are so grateful for a community that continues to support and celebrate them in such thoughtful ways. 🩵🖤

05/08/2026

We were blessed today with the BIG Red Truck for lunch and snacks courtesy of Ms. Tara Blankenship.

Thank you for treating our DMS staff! 🫶🩵🖤

05/07/2026

Teacher Appreciation Week at DMS has been filled with so much kindness and support from our incredible community partners!

A huge thank you to our Builders Club for providing breakfast from Chick-fil-A for our staff this morning!

Special shout out to Compassion & Grace Family Counseling for sponsoring lunch from Graffiti Pizza — our team absolutely enjoyed it! 🍕

Thank you as well to Destin Eye Care PA and Advantage HPE for the thoughtful gifts, baskets, and goodie bags that helped make our staff feel so appreciated throughout the day.

We are truly grateful for a community that supports and celebrates our teachers and staff the way ours does. 🩵🖤

05/06/2026