School board proclaims September 2025 Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, honors local family

The Okaloosa County School Board adopted a proclamation designating September 2025 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month during its Sept. 22 meeting. The proclamation was presented by Mr. Meyer (sitting in for the superintendent) and read into the record; the board voted 5‑0 to adopt it.

The proclamation cites that Northwest Florida reports an average of 50 local children newly diagnosed with cancer each year and states that childhood cancer is "the number 1 disease killer of children in The United States," and that childhood cancer research receives less than 10% of National Institutes of Health cancer research funding for children, language included verbatim in the proclamation as read at the meeting. The proclamation encourages participation in awareness and fundraising efforts and directs that a copy of the resolution be placed in the board minutes and tendered to Rally Gulf Coast.

Mr. Meyer invited Felicia Hutchison and her granddaughter—who attended the meeting—to come forward for a photo. Hutchison spoke briefly in the boardroom, saying her granddaughter had gone through treatment and that the Rally foundation had helped her family and others in the district. The transcript records Hutchison noting that her granddaughter is "doing well." The board then posed for a photograph with Hutchison and her granddaughter.

The board formalized the proclamation with a motion by Mr. Bryant and a second by Ms. Vancic; the motion carried 5‑0.

Background: The proclamation text read at the meeting references national research funding levels and local diagnostic totals; the transcript provides the text as read by the presenter and records the board’s adoption and the request that a copy be forwarded to Rally Gulf Coast.