Wewa welcomes back its own
It was a welcome like only a tight-knit small town can do.
On Tuesday, August 10, a long queue of cars slowly dropped off their precious cargo at Wewahitchka Elementary School, as students scampered back to school, some carrying a backpack full of supplies, all looking fresh and excited for the upcoming 2021-22 school year.
Teacher Melanie Hinote has retired and there are four new faces at Wewa Elementary, second grade teacher Chelsey Ardire, fifth grade teacher Teresa Dietz, sixth grade math teacher Emily Lavergne, and school nurse Robbin Peavy. Familiar faces who have rejoined the staff are fourth grade teacher Susan Bellonis, reading specialist Debbie Gerber, and sixth grade English and language arts teacher Anita Askew.
At the high school, the students each wore their color-coded school shirts, proudly showing off their class identity.
At a school-wide assembly in the gleaming gymnasium, Principal Jay Bidwell offered a welcome, followed by each of the teachers and staff, two by two, filing into the gym to be introduced by name to the entire student body.
After that it was time for some good-natured cheering, and the start of the new school year was underway.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.