Fort Walton Beach High School will induct Barbara Britt into its 2025 Hall of Fame on October 3, recognizing her 36-year career from 1977 to 2013 that revolutionized student leadership development and athletic programs while establishing community service initiatives still active today.

• Britt transformed the school’s approach to leadership education by growing the program from 30 students to over 300 participants across all grade levels. Her philosophy emphasized hands-on community service rather than traditional classroom study.

“I wanted them to lead, not just talk about leadership or just research about leaders. I just wanted them to lead,” Britt said in a recent interview.

Two of Britt’s students shaped her teaching philosophy with a simple request that changed how she approached education.

“I had Brand Kroeger and Kevin Schmidt and they said, ‘just let us lead if you just stand,’” Britt recalled. Their advice led her to step back and allow students to take ownership of programs.

Kevin Schmidt, now a small business owner and current Destin city councilman, remembers the program’s prestige during his time as a student.

• “Leadership Class at that time was a very prestigious and selective group,” Schmidt said. “The dynamic duo of Barbara Britt and Patti Bonnezzi was a dream team. Back then you had to apply to be accepted, and I believe it was only open to seniors for many years. All throughout high school, it was something students really strived for.”

Schmidt, along with Brand Kroeger and Tiffany Coletta, were among the first juniors ever selected for the program as it began expanding to more grades.

“Knowing the impact the class made in the community, along with the positive energy and traditions they created at school, I always wanted to be part of it,” Schmidt said.

Under Britt’s direction, students created the Christmas Connection program, which grew to serve 320 children annually with a $60,000 budget in its final year. Students interviewed families, coordinated gift distribution and provided complete holiday meals. The program expanded beyond Okaloosa County to serve families in Walton County and Santa Rosa County.

“If you asked anyone familiar with the Leadership Class, they would probably agree that Christmas Connection was her greatest contribution,” Schmidt said. “The tradition she built didn’t just change the lives of the families who received its support — it also transformed the students who made it happen. The ripple effect of that program is immeasurable, and it continues to define the spirit of leadership she instilled.”

Parker Destin, a small business owner and current Okaloosa County School Board member, was a leadership student under Britt as well. He said the community service component of her class exposed him to challenges he hadn’t previously understood.

• “Her class exposed me in a way I hadn’t been before, to the wide varieties of need in Okaloosa County and the wide variety of challenges our students and families face every day outside the four corners of our schools,” Destin said. “Much of it was invisible to every one of us outside of our bubble of close friends.”

Destin said that understanding shaped his approach to serving on the school board.

“I know our public schools are the crossroads and reflection of every societal challenge we have, not just the ones affecting me,” he said. “I know that truth in part because of some of the important service work I did almost 25 years ago with Mrs. Barbara Britt. So, I try to make no presumptions when making a decision about our students, our parents, or our employees while on the school board. Mrs. Britt helped me realize the valuable perspective that one size rarely fits all in any leadership role.”

When Enterprise, Alabama was struck by a tornado, Britt said Brand Kroeger called asking what they could do about it. This conversation launched an immediate relief effort. Starting with only $1,000 in their account, students organized relief efforts that included three busloads of students, fathers with chainsaws, a police officer and a nurse. They raised $6,000 through a fundraising dinner and delivered unencumbered funds to the affected school.

• “There wasn’t anything they couldn’t do. I look back now and I am totally amazed at what they did,” Britt said of her students’ accomplishments.

The leadership program also launched the Silver Sands Prom, an annual event for special needs students just down the road from the school that Britt’s classes organized and funded entirely. Students designed decorations, provided entertainment and served as escorts. One student created a 14-foot Eiffel Tower with lights specifically for the event.

Britt developed a comprehensive portfolio system requiring students to document all activities, community service hours, scholarship applications and essays. The system helped students secure college admissions and scholarships, with several receiving the first scholarships offered in Pensacola because of their detailed portfolios.

“I wanted them to be able to succeed. I wanted them to champion themselves when there wasn’t someone else to champion them,” Britt explained.

Schmidt described Britt’s teaching approach as unlike any other educator he experienced.

• “Mrs. Britt meant business — there was never a wasted moment in her class,” Schmidt said. “She brought an energy that felt like 100 miles per hour every single day. She genuinely cared about every student, but she didn’t put up with nonsense. If you weren’t busy doing something, she would find something for you to do whether you liked it or not. She had a way of balancing high expectations with trust — she gave everyone the benefit of the doubt until you gave her a reason not to.”

Destin said Britt’s authentic intensity made her effective as a leadership teacher.

“Mrs. Britt possessed an authentic intensity for the course’s goal which was to inspire the students to find and harness a similar energy necessary for effective leadership,” Destin said.

The lesson that stayed with Destin over the years was about sustainable leadership.

• “When you’re in a leadership role, overt passion is more contagious than negativity and is the only sustainable way to inspire others,” he said.

As physical education department head, Britt ensured Title IX compliance by introducing competitive cheerleading, dance and girls weightlifting programs. At various times during her career, she coached six different sports including swimming, cheerleading, dance, JV football, softball, track, cross country and tennis. She taught various physical education courses and at one point was the only female physical education teacher at the school.

Rachael Jones, co-owner of CrossFit Destin and assistant principal at Meigs Middle School in Shalimar, was a cheerleader under Britt’s coaching. She described practices as demanding but purposeful.

“Even though practices were tough, my muscles ached, and I dreaded the phrase ‘one more time‘, she had an incredible way to pull out everything that her athletes were capable of at every practice,” Jones said. “I felt like I was pushed to reach my full potential every single day and the only way that I knew what that potential was is because I knew that she believed in me.”

Jones shared a memory that illustrated the respect Britt commanded from her athletes.

• “There were a lot of times where practice wasn’t going perfectly and we really needed some more reps at a certain stunt sequence, part of our routine, or something of the sort,” Jones said. “But one specific time, we were having a competition practice in the gym and we were practicing way past our scheduled release time. All of the athletes knew it but were too scared to tell her that it was late and it was past time to go. We finally nominated someone to tell her and she just laughed hysterically. She thought we were all crazy for not telling her earlier. But that’s the kind of respect that we had for her — if she didn’t think we were ready to go home for the night, we were going to keep working until we got it right.”

Britt’s coaching philosophy emphasized rigorous athletic training regardless of the sport. Her cheerleaders were in the weight room at 5 a.m. during summers, ran extensive mileage and lifted weights when such training was uncommon for cheerleading programs. She brought in outside choreographers, including professionals who worked on popular cheerleading movies and college-level coaches.

“What makes an athlete? I was lucky enough to have a strong kinesiologist teacher so that was my background. That’s why I could coach sports that I never did because I knew what the body did,” Britt explained.

Her competitive teams achieved national recognition, with cheerleading squads reaching national championships and performing before crowds of 34,000 people. The cheerleading program became known for innovative stunts, with entire stunts named after techniques her teams pioneered, though many were later banned for safety reasons.

“They were all just rock stars,” Britt said. “You’ve never seen unity until you’ve seen that…and they are athletes. Every single one of them are athletes. If you take your body and make it do something that it doesn’t ordinarily do, and you control it, and you can be on the floor with 36 other athletes and you are totally in sync, that’s athletic.”

Jones said the lessons she learned from Britt shaped her career in education and coaching.

• “After I graduated from high school, I went on to work for a National Cheerleading company for 13 years where I taught camps for over 400 participants and their coaches all over the United States and even in Japan,” Jones said. “So much of what I applied to that job, and to my years coaching cheerleading at FWBHS, I learned from Mrs. Britt. I learned that I had to want success for my team, but I also had to teach them how to want it and how to go after it — I couldn’t want to win the most.”

Jones originally planned to pursue a career in psychology and criminal justice with aspirations to join the FBI. That changed after attending a national cheerleading competition with Britt.

“In the spring semester of my sophomore year, after attending Nationals with Mrs. Britt and the cheerleaders, I called my mom sobbing because I knew I could not move forward with that major, even though changing it was going to set me back a whole year of school,” Jones said. “I could not imagine a future where I wasn’t still teaching/coaching kids and I needed to find something else that I was passionate about that would allow me to continue working with kids.”

Jones earned her degree in secondary education with a concentration in English and eventually returned to teach at Fort Walton Beach High School, working alongside Britt.

“I had always seen Mrs. Britt’s passion for the Cheerleading and Girls’ Weightlifting programs because that’s where I was around her since I never had her as a teacher in the classroom; but once I taught alongside her, I got to see her work her magic in the Leadership classes at Fort Walton,” Jones said. “That program went from one class of seniors when I was in school to a full 6 or 7 classes of various grade levels and quadrupled the amount of projects and community events that they were responsible for.”

Britt helped design and build the women’s field house, specifying the exact height needed for cheerleading stunts, appropriate mats and mirrors for dance instruction. She described the facility as “designed to put a dance team on it” and for teaching aerobics classes safely.

For girls weightlifting, Britt met with an Olympic weightlifting coach to learn proper techniques and ensure student safety. She emphasized that her female athletes maintained feminine appearances while excelling athletically, which helped gain parental acceptance for the new sport.

Jones never touched a barbell before joining Britt’s cheerleading team and weightlifting program. She won the state championship as a senior. Now she and her husband own CrossFit Destin.

• “Mrs. Britt is one of those people that has grand ideas of what you’re capable of even before you’ve begun to dream for yourself,” Jones said.

“I couldn’t swim at the time. I know it’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Britt recalled about accepting the swimming coach position to secure her teaching job. She learned to swim and studied under the cross-town coach to ensure proper training methods.

Britt’s programs specifically supported military families, reflecting Fort Walton Beach’s military community. Students organized family nights for spouses of deployed service members, providing childcare, meals and activities while creating care packages for overseas personnel.

The leadership program participated in national initiatives including the Barbara Bush reading program, working with 178 students weekly who were at risk of not passing reading requirements. Students also coordinated homeless feeding programs that operated for eight years.

Schmidt eventually transitioned from student to colleague, teaching the leadership program alongside Britt before taking over when she retired.

• “My wife, Natalie, was actually the first to teach the class alongside Mrs. Britt after it grew to multiple classes,” Schmidt said. “Natalie had also been one of her students, and at some point after we graduated, the structure of the program evolved, opening the door for more students to experience it. I think at its peak, there were 7-8 classes in total between two teachers.”

Schmidt described taking over the program as both exciting and intimidating.

“When she announced her retirement and I was asked to take her place, it was both exciting and a little intimidating — a big responsibility, but also an incredible honor,” he said.

Jones said Britt’s influence shaped how she leads and mentors students today.

“Mrs. Britt always had high expectations for her students and athletes but there was never a question as to whether or not she loved you,” Jones said. “I can’t even count the number of students over the years that lived with her for some point in time due to just needing a safe space and someone who loved them. I hope that’s what my students feel about me, as well. I’m not going to let you slide — I’m going to hold you accountable. But my job is to love you no matter what and to make sure that I’m preparing you to be a contributing member of society so I have to keep my expectations high for you.”

Destin reflected on Britt’s broader impact on the community.

“There are hundreds of people, today, in vitally important roles throughout our community and within the Okaloosa County School District doing impactful work on behalf of our students and the people of Okaloosa County because of the mentorship Mrs. Britt provided them,” Destin said.

Britt holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of West Florida and certifications in John Maxwell Leadership Training, DISC Personality Insights, and Diversity and Inclusion. She continues working as a leadership consultant and coach, helping organizations develop effective leadership skills and inclusive practices.

The induction ceremony will take place during halftime of Friday night’s football game at Fort Walton Beach High School. For Britt, the recognition has reconnected her with former students from across her career.

• “It was such a privilege to get to teach and coach at Fort Walton Beach High School,” she said. “It was the greatest privilege for me.”

When asked what advice she would give to educators wanting to make a lasting impact on student leadership, Britt offered guidance that defined her own career.

“Don’t be fearful of letting your students create and develop thoughts that are not yours,” she said.