FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Families filled the halls of Flagler Palm Coast High School on Saturday with backpacks, smiles and excitement as the annual Back-to-School Jam welcomed students back for another school year. More than just a school supply event, the gathering connected families with valuable community resources, celebrated student achievement and reinforced an important message, a successful school year begins with a community working together.
More than 80 vendors representing Flagler Schools, community organizations, nonprofits and local agencies were on hand to provide information, answer questions and help families prepare for the first day of school.
Superintendent LaShakia Moore said the event continues to grow because it reflects the strength of the entire community.
“Here at the Jam, we have over 80 vendors with us, representing our schools, our community, the Flagler County Education Foundation and so much more,” Moore said. “What I’m very proud of is that this year we added a Celebration Zone to celebrate the hard work of our students as we celebrate earning our ‘A’ this year. We wanted to make sure we could honor our students and all of their hard work.”
The upstairs Celebration Zone gave students an opportunity to enjoy games and activities while recognizing the district’s academic achievement.
Moore said the excitement surrounding the new school year is well deserved.
“This is going to be a great school year,” she said. “We’ve got great people. Our students are coming back well rested from the summer, and I know we’re going to continue the great progress we’ve made moving forward.”
School Board Vice Chair Will Furry said the event gives parents a chance to learn about the many resources available before classes begin.
“This is an important day because it brings the community together,” Furry said. “It helps parents and students learn about all the things that are available to them so they can start the year off knowing where to go when they need help.”
Furry also praised the district’s students for earning the state’s highest school district grade.
“We’re here to celebrate our ‘A,’ and we wanted to make sure we included our scholars because they were a big part of making us an A district,” he said. “Now the challenge is to keep it, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Among the organizations connecting with families was Vincent’s Clubhouse, which has participated in the Back to School Jam for many years.
Executive Director Erica Flores said the event demonstrates what makes Flagler County special.
“It’s a great opportunity for the whole community to come together to support our students, our educators and our families,” Flores said. “We get to connect with each other, share resources and let everyone know we’re going to stick together through the upcoming school year.”
Flores also introduced the organization’s newest initiative, The Workshop, an afternoon enrichment program for kindergarten through 12th-grade students with disabilities.
“The Workshop is specially designed to help students build social skills and life skills, with a little bit of academics mixed in,” she said. “We’re really excited to launch it this school year.”
While much of the day focused on fun, organizers also reminded families that the start of school brings increased traffic and new safety concerns.
Flagler County Commission Chair Andy Dance, who also serves as chair of the Flagler Community Traffic Safety Team, joined Pamela Blankenship of the Flagler Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) to share important back-to-school safety information with students and parents.
“As school starts, we’ll have students on buses, bikes, sidewalks and on the road, along with young drivers,” Dance said. “We’re here to get the safety message into the hands of students and parents.”
Blankenship said the team continues promoting the 100 Safest Days of Summer campaign, which encourages teens and parents to work together to reduce crashes during the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day—historically the deadliest time of year for teen drivers.
“We’re flipping the script and making them the 100 Safest Days,” she said. “There’s people out there on bikes and walking, and we all need to be courteous.”
Dance said education about bicycle and e-bike safety has become increasingly important.
“We’ve had great dialogue, especially about e-bikes and Palm Coast’s safety ordinances,” he said. “We’ve been able to share a lot of important information.”
His advice for cyclists was simple: obey traffic signals, slow down around pedestrians, signal before passing and always give people walking plenty of room.
For motorists, Blankenship offered an equally important reminder.
“Pay attention. Be alert. Expect the unexpected,” she said. “Expect someone to dart out in front of you, and be prepared to stop.”
