Using PHP to generate HTML

Hi, I am developing a backend MySQL/PHP solution for a client to update a news section on their front page. To avoid unnecessary overhead, I do not want my front page to be running SQL queries each time a someone visits the site. Instead, I would like my client to be able to click on a "Publish Page" button in the backend that would automatically create a static index.html file. The client would click on this "Publish Page" button after they had finished updating/editing the news items. So, is there a way to write the result of a PHP/MySQL query to a static web page at the client's command? Thank you, Beau