Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, September 26, 2020…a great day to be a Renegade.

Another Jack Hernandez:

The Heart’s Hymn

Beautiful Bakersfield Award

Bakersfield College is proud to be a pillar in this community, serving as an engine for economic and social mobility for tens of thousands of students and their families. We are honored to be nominated for the 2020 Beautiful Bakersfield Awards. Thank you Greater Bakersfield Chamber for the exciting nomination.

HEAL Webinar Launches

Bakersfield College’s Rural Health Equity And Learning (HEAL) Collaborative hosted a webinar on Tuesday, focusing on the Central Valley in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The afternoon gave public health leaders an opportunity to discuss advancing strategies around the mental health of vulnerable communities, the barriers faced by migrant workers, contact tracing for disease control, and the need to reshape public health infrastructure.

A recording of the webinar is available on the Bakersfield College Facebook – there is a link from the webinar webpage. To learn more about this event visit https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/news/2020/0923-bcs-heal-takes-a-closer-look-at-covid-19-and-the-central-valley

Dr. Kathleen Murphy, one of our featured speakers, also wrote this article calling for a “second public health revolution.”

She wrote about the need for equity and a focus on human health and well-being in our federal laws. Human health should be a determining factor in every aspect of legislation – she notes that even housing policies, school districts or road design can have a profound impact on our ability to live a healthy life, but impact on health is often not considered.

Dr. Murphy and Dr. Pollack Porter, who co-wrote the article, call for a Congressional Health Office to help guide legislation toward promoting public health, and to look for any unintended negative consequences proposed laws could have on our public health.

COVID Testing at BC

Bakersfield College is continuing our commitment to provide high quality support services to the community.

Alongside Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Kern County Public Health Services Dept. and the #KernCoLatinoCOVIDTaskForce, BC held free COVID-19 testing this past week on the Panorama campus.

Thank you to all who participated in making this happen for the community.

Opening Day 2020: A Better BC

On Day 3 of our Opening Day Celebration, Maintenance & Operations Executive Director Bill Potter and I shared an update on our Measure J construction projects on campus.

For more videos from our Opening Day 2020 celebration, visit the Opening Day website.

This week, Bill also presented updates on our Measure J projects to the Kern Economic Development Corporation.

You can find out more about our A Better BC projects at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/abetterbc.

Umoja Club speaker provides budgeting advice to students

Financial aid just dropped — money that must last students the rest of the semester. Budget Coach Alana Herbert offered tips and strategies to students in the Umoja Club.

Alana, who is a college counselor at KIPP So Cal, shared information on budgeting, saving, credit scores, and investing.

Alana called budgets a “conscious spending plan,” and she advised students to check in with their plan on a regular basis using whatever system works. The idea is that “every dollar has a purpose,” she said.

With the app, students created the sample budget of a student who had monthly income from a part-time job and a one-time financial aid payment that had to last three months. The student had school, housing, transportation, and personal care expenses. Umoja students considered the fixed expenses as well as the flexible expenses and devised a plan to set aside funds for emergencies.

Alana advised students to use the 50/20/30 formula with 50% needs, 20% wants, 30% saving.

The Umoja Club has activities the first and third Thursdays of every month. Officers include Blake Burton, Sha’ron Bradley, Alexis Brown, Zariyah Hall, Aaron Beal, and Tahnjanique Teague. The Club advisor is Umoja Coordinator Dr. Paula L. Parks.

BC-SW Building Update

This week I received an email from Lee Caldwell with photos of construction of BC Southwest. The project is coming along and looks great!

Early College Website gets a facelift

Our Early College department has been hard at work to revamp and simplify their website. The finished product was rolled out this past week.

Visitors of the website can find information on what Early College is and what options high school students who want to take college courses have. The team worked to simplify the concurrent enrollment process and provide up-to-date information on the programs, pathways, and courses available through each high school partner. Stop by and take a look when you have time! 

Check it out at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/earlycollege.

Culinary Students stay safe

Suzanne Tangeman, Faculty Chair of the Food & Nutrition Program, shared these photos of our culinary arts students. Some of our hands-on courses are returning to campus, but with extra safety precautions. As you can see, our culinary arts students are wearing masks and face shields:

Community Voices

I wanted to share a few Community Voices from the Bakersfield Californian this week.

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#LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation

This week, I am sharing a few videos from the #LightACandle production.

Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Alpha Alpha Chapter:

Jamal Wright:

You can find more information, including videos from all the productions, on the BC Juneteenth Website.

Spotted on Social Media

Endee Grijalva, Adult Education Program Manager for South Kern, shared a thank you note she received from a student in the Project Hireup program:

“Over the past 6 weeks, our team has been fully entrenched in cohort #2 of Bakersfield College’s Project Hireup – Homeless to a job. Literally masked up and armored up to fight for the success of every individual who steps into programming. This cannot be possible without every single component in place. People’s lives are literally at stake and carrying that weight can be exhausting sometimes. Today was one of those days but yet again, I’m reminded of the WHY…this is it. There’s no glory or title needed, just this!”

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Jenny Frank, Veteran Services and Programs Manager, shared a few photos on Facebook from a road trip she’s taking by motorcycle:

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BCSGA continued their #ThrowbackThursday with this Instagram post showing a group of bicyclists riding through the Panorama Campus circa 1978:

BC Nursing shared their own throwback photo on Instagram, from a previous Kern County College Night:

And have you been noticing the Renegade Athletics billboards around town? Check out this post from the Renegade Athletics Facebook page:

Athletics

23ABC Sports Feature on Reggie Bolton and Coach Littlejohn

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Local sports reporter Kari Osep did a great piece on our newly hired Dean/AD Reggie Bolton and head football coach R. Todd Littlejohn being the first two African Americans hired in their respective positions at BC. Combined, both men bring 50 years of leadership into their new positions as the department is on the verge of 100 years of existence, being founded in 1922.

To watch the video that aired on 23ABC and an extended podcast segment, click here: https://www.turnto23.com/sports/bakersfield-college-breaks-racial-barriers-with-recent-athletics-hirings

Be sure to stay connected to Renegade Athletics on social media:

• Facebook: Bakersfield College Athletics
• Twitter: @GoGadesGo
• Instagram: @gogadesgo

That’s all for now.
Until next time.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya –
the luckiest and happiest college president ever

Tagged: A Better BC, Bakersfield College, Early College, Gian Gayato, Measure J, Sonya Christian