New year new school: Panama City Beach hosts ribbon cutting for Walsingham Academy

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony for A. Gary Walsingham Academy in Panama City Beach on Thursday, ushering in a new era for area students just in time for the new school year. 

Members of the school board, Bay County Commission and ReliantSouth Construction were in attendance to see the official unveiling of the school. While there were some concerns that the school would not be finished in time, district officials said the building looked completely different compared to how it looked a couple days before.

The new school year starts on Tuesday.

The academy will open up as a K-2 to start and will continuously add grades in the coming years until it is a K-5 facility. However, it is constructed to be a K-8 school if expansion is needed.

When Superintendent Bill Husfelt called to meet with Alvin Gary Walsingham a few years ago, he remembers being nervous asking him for money. In his first sentence, Husfelt said he asked Walsingham for $1 million for the school and before he could finish his sales pitch Walsingham agreed to it.

Walsingham has been successful in the business world. He was one of the first people to move his business to Panama City Beach in the mid-1950s.

To leave a legacy of having a school named after him is an opportunity Walsingham said he didn't want to pass up.

"I've always thought, I made a lot of money on this beach, it has been good to me and I want to be good to it," Walsingham said. "It's about helping and I love the kids out here on the beach. We've got businesses all over the country now, but this is home."

Walsingham got a chance to speak in front of the crowd of future students, teachers, administrators and people from the community. He was very emotional talking about the work that had gone into building the school, but said he is very excited about what the future students will get to experience.

Walsingham Academy's first principal, Amy Harvey, has been constantly checking on the school to make sure it would be ready for the first day of classes. She thanked BDS Facilities Director Lee Walters for bringing her stress level down by constantly telling her to "trust the process."

Now that the school is just a few days away from opening to students, reality is starting to sink in for Harvey.

"We just got in the building Tuesday and feeling all of the excitement from teachers in the hallway and you just know the student excitement is going to be 10 times that," Harvey said. "Having the opportunity as an educator of a new school opening, that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity most people don't ever get."

There was a moment where Harvey wasn't sure if she would be the first principal of Walsingham when Husfelt called her about the opportunity. She loved the position she was in at Northside Elementary and the bonds she had made.

All it took was her husband telling her that there was nothing to think about and the opportunity was too great for an educator.

Harvey said she is just looking forward to the first day of school, when she gets to welcome the first Wahoos on campus.