NEWS
Thank you for your interest in FSDB. As per our policy, all media inquiries must be referred to Communications & Public Relations for coordination with appropriate school personnel. Our Executive Director is the first point of contact for reporters/media organizations covering school-related news, programs and events. For sports-related information, reporters may work directly with the Athletic Director.
Media Resources
Contacts
Michael Johnson
Executive Director of Communications and Public Relations
PH: 904-827-2682
johnsonm@fsdbk12.org (preferred)
Billy Lange
Athletic Director
PH: 904-827-2570
Info for the Media
Advance Arrangements
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Members of the media who wish to attend an upcoming school event or function must work directly and in advance with the Executive Director who will coordinate campus arrangements.
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While FSDB will make every effort to accommodate media requests for access, we reserve the right to deny your request when it is believed the media's presence is unwarranted, may be disruptive, or interferes with classes or other school activities.
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FSDB is committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of its students and their families in accordance with the Family and Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA).
Photo & Video Authorizations
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Reporters, photographers and videographers should work in advance with the Executive Director to confirm photo/video releases before filming, posting, printing or airing school-related images.
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Outside organizations wishing to photograph or film students at school for commercial use must work in advance with the Executive Director, who will advise on a parent/guardian release for use of their student's image.
Campus Visits
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Members of the media must contact the Executive Director for permission before going to FSDB, otherwise they may be asked to leave the campus. Once advance arrangements are made with the Executive Director, reporters must check in at the Campus Police guardhouse (main entrance). Students and staff members will be advised that they have the right to refuse to be photographed, videotaped or interviewed.
In the News
Winter Park man born deaf achieves dream of becoming chef at Disney World (Deaf Alumni) – WESH 2 News, June 4, 2023
2022-2023 Young Performers Program (BHS students and alumni) – Arts4AllFlorida.org, May 5, 2023
'Don't let anybody tell you what you can't do': FSDB vie for big finale – St. Augustine Record, April 14, 2023
FIRED UP: Florida School for the Deaf and Blind playing winning flag football – St. Augustine Record, April 2, 2023
All-Volusia-Flagler-St. Johns area: Meet the top boys basketball players of 2022-2023 – St. Augustine Record, March 19, 2023
Annual Golf Clinic for Deaf Teenager Continues to Inspire – First Coast News, March 8, 2023
Meet Kyle Bray of Saint Augustine (Blind Alumni) – Voyage Jacksonville, February 9, 2023
Teacher of the Year: Culinary, International Collaboration, and Drones? – The Division of Career and Adult Education, Feb. 1, 2023
NCSD host Mason-Dixon girls tournament – The Morganton News Herald, Jan. 31, 2023
Wrestling among most popular sports at Florida School for the Deaf and Blind – St. Augustine Record, Jan. 12, 2023
Run with a Vision (Video) – News4Jax.com, Jan. 5, 2023
ON FIRE: Young Florida School for the Deaf and Blind girls basketball off to fast start – St. Augustine Record, Jan. 4, 2023
WEIGHT IS OVER: Weightlifting finally reaches Florida School for the Deaf and Blind – St. Augustine Record, Dec. 1, 2022
NEW FLAME: Florida School for the Deaf and Blind basketball restarts, seeks last year's success – St. Augustine Record, Nov. 23, 2022
THIS WEEK IN ST. JOHNS COUNTY HISTORY: FSDB president Dr. Albert Hayne Walker dies in 1927 – St. Augustine Record, Nov. 20, 2022
The Next Wave: Blind athlete Khayree Lofton leads new wave of blind athletes at FSDB – St. Augustine Record, Sept. 20, 2022
Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Four to the FSDB Board of Trustees – Florida Governor Press Release, August 5, 2022
Golf Odyssey: Playing four holes with blind golfer William Pease (Blind P.E. Dept.) – St. Augustine Record, July 18, 2022
Braille Institute Names Winners of the 2022 Braille Challenge (Maely Porter, BEMS) – Braille Institute, June 27, 2022
Graduates of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind celebrate achievements – St. Augustine Record, May 27, 2022
‘A total package’: Kayla Debrow’s emergence as a must-watch player at Mike Glenn’s camp – Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 19, 2022
Trent Ferguson, Student Commencement Speaker, Found His Niche in Radio – South Florida State College, April 25, 2022
Deaf team members grow, inspire at Jacksonville Beach Chili’s (Tyler Powell, Alumnus) – News4Jax, April 14, 2022
SJC high school seniors to receive Citizenship Awards (Jose Giron-Ryes, BHS) – City of St. Augustine, April 12, 2022
Ripples of inspiration reach Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind after CODA's historic night at the Oscars (Luca-Bella Bonanno-White, DHS) – First Coast News, March 28, 2022
Best Picture 'CODA' is shedding light on the deaf, hard of hearing and their families (Tracie Snow) – News4Jax, March 28, 2022
Surprise! Jacksonville 11-year-old, inspired by sister, wins invention competition to help people with hearing loss (Daniela Torres, DMS) – First Coast News, March 23, 2022
Fiery Dragons: FSDB Girls' Basketball Program Starting to Grow – St. Augustine Record, March 7, 2022
FSDB is PLAYERS charity for Wednesday – Ponte Vedra Recorder, March 2, 2022
FSDB Cheerleading Team wins 3 tournaments – The Daily Moth, Feb. 24, 2022
Black History Month Spotlight: Jamie Mixon (Alumnus) – Gallaudet University, Feb. 17, 2022
Long time coming: FSDB girls hoops team treasures 1st playoff berth – News4Jax, Feb. 9, 2022
Flagler Alum, Marissa Harrer, Represents FSDB as Their District Teacher of the Year – Flagler College, Jan. 3, 2022
St. Johns Women of Distinction (Tracie Snow, President) | Video – Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Sept. 23, 2021
Learn Braille to help the blind and visually impaired - Florida NewsLine, Sept. 1, 2021
FSDB Blind grad, coach head to Tokyo for Paralympics (Daryl Walker Keith Young, PE Teacher) – St. Augustine Record, Aug. 18, 2021
Meet the Paralympians with Florida ties competing in Tokyo (Daryl Walker, Alumnus) – Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 18, 2021
What you can't see in these gorgeous eyes (Dwayne Lewis, BHS student) – First Coast News, Aug. 12, 2021
Snake Hunters Remove 223 Invasive Burmese Pythons from the Everglades in Annual Challenge (Brandon Call, DMS Science Teacher) – Outdoor Life, Aug. 9, 2021
St. Augustine teens are finalists in international Braille Challenge Finals – First Coast News, July 29, 2021
Expanding American Sign Language’s scientific vocabulary (Mandy Houghton, Alumnus) – Chemical & Engineering News, July 11, 2021
Senior Heads to Ivy League Grad Studies After Graduation (Ryan McCleary, BHS Class of 2018) – University of Central Florida, July 7, 2021
Daryl Walker ready for another shot on Team USA goalball squad in Paralympics – News4Jax, June 23, 2021
Henry White Sr. spends 60 years giving back to the community that shaped his life – St. Augustine Record, June 14, 2021
U.S. Goalball Teams Announced For Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games – USABA.org, June 9, 2021
Runnin' Down a Dream – Ocala Style, June 1, 2021
Drug Court Awareness Month – Second Judicial Circuit of Florida, May 24, 2021
National Park Foundation Provides Grants for Education Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic – National Parks, April 20, 2021
McCaul is First Alumnus to Chair Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Board of Trustees – The Florida Bar, April 16, 2021
Blind alumnus Owen McCaul leads by example as chair of the board of Florida School – Tallahassee Democrat, Feb. 23, 2021
Earl Brigham: He Taught Us How to Care – Spectrum News 13, Feb. 19, 2021
Florida schools graduation rate hits record-high after standardized tests waived – News4Jax, Jan. 8, 2021
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind hires new president – St. Augustine Record, Nov. 2, 2020
The pandemic's impact on kids in the deaf/heard of hearing community – CBS News, Oct. 29, 2020
North Shores Improvement Association donates $10,000 to FSDB – St. Augustine Record, Oct. 20, 2020
Bard College Appoints Marcus Roberts as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music – Bard College, Oct. 13, 2020
Remote instruction for students with visual impairments: Tips from schools in Florida, Texas – Special Ed Connection, Oct. 2, 2020
Rays' Enrique Oliu has been Spanish-language broadcaster since inaugural first pitch in 1998 – ABC Action News Tampa Bay, Oct. 1, 2020
Governor Ron DeSantis appoints June Ann LeFors to the FSDB Board of Trustees – Florida Governor Press Release, Sept. 18, 2020
He calls baseball games by ear; without fans, his job is a lot harder – The New York Times, Sept. 11, 2020
Social distancing at FSDB – Action News Jax, Aug. 17, 2020
Scholarship awarded to high school graduates with disabilities – St. Augustine Record, Aug. 9, 2020
FSDB releases opening plans – First Coast News, July 15, 2020
P.E.O. provides scholarship grant for local valedictorian – St. Augustine Record, June 7, 2020
Valedictorian vignettes: FSDB – St. Augustine Record, June 4, 2020
Technology plays major role for FSDB students’ distance learning success – Palm Beach Post, May 7, 2020
Technology bridges the gap for deaf and blind students – St. Augustine Record, May 5, 2020
Dean's Medalist finds herself through philosophy – Arizona State University, April 15, 2020
Distance learning a bigger challenge for students who are blind, deaf during pandemic – First Coast News, April 13, 2020
St. Augustine Fire Department splits up crews to limit exposure to COVID-19 – News4Jax, April 10, 2020
Smiles, laughs a constant at Strano’s golf clinic for FSDB students – News4Jax, March 10, 2020
St. Augustine loses inaugural flag football game to FSDB – St. Augustine Record, March 4, 2020
President of FSDB announces retirement – St. Augustine Record, March 2, 2020
St. Augustine family to appear on Nickelodeon’s ‘The Crystal Maze’ – News4Jax, Feb. 21, 2020
Ashley the Artist – Next Gen Magazine, Feb. 13, 2020
FSDB: ‘Chronic shortage’ in braille teachers – News4Jax, Dec. 11, 2019
St. Augustine sailing hosts students from Florida school for deaf and blind – St. Augustine Record, Nov. 27, 2019
Concentrating on the fundamentals of assistive technology – edCircuit, Nov. 18, 2019
Gauging the growth of assistive technology – edCircuit, Nov. 12, 2019
School shoutout – Sign1News, Nov. 10, 2019
Mother and daughter team write and illustrate children's book – St. Augustine Record, Aug. 25, 2019
A sure sign with Dr. Jeanne Prickett of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind – St. Augustine Social, Aug. 16, 2019
Ron DeSantis appoints two to FSDB Board – Florida Politics, Aug. 11, 2019
She has no barriers: Bethany Baker UNFs first deaf nursing student – The Florida Times-Union, June 28, 2019
FSDB students become sailors for a day – The Florida Times-Union, June 27, 2019
No sight needed: Radio station adds blind sportscaster – Fox 35 Orlando, June 7, 2019
Rays radio broadcaster brings his own vision to the game – Spectrum News 13, June 5, 2019
My blind son opened my eyes to the world – Tallahassee Democrat, May 12, 2019
Navigating blindness with Marcus Roberts – Nuvo, May 3, 2019
Lincolnville museum honors second crop of living legends – St. Augustine Record, April 14, 2019
Florida School for Deaf and Blind coach takes home Coach of the Week honors – Jaguars.com, April 4, 2019
Rob Strano hosts 15th annual golf clinic for deaf and blind students – News4Jax, March 12, 2019
Success is a sign of what’s to come for the FSDB – First Coast News, Jan. 30, 2019
Apple pushes to teach coding to students who are deaf and blind – First Coast News, May 17, 2018
Funding denied again for FSDB – News4Jax, March 21, 2018
Blind swimmer overcomes family tragedy – First Coast News, Dec. 11, 2017
Rob Strano introduces deaf students to golf – News4Jax, May 9, 2017
Lawmakers steer $500 million to schools for construction – News4Jax, May 3, 2017
St. Augustine teacher among educators to win governor’s Shine Award – News4Jax, Jan. 24, 2017
St. Augustine Mayor declares Sept. 23 Ray Charles Day – First Coast News, Sept. 23, 2016
The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind – St. Augustine Record, Feb. 29, 2016
News Releases
FSDB Announces Tracie Cascio Snow as New President – FSDB Press Release, Oct. 30, 2020
Photos & Mulitimedia
Links forthcoming.