Monthly Archives: October 2020

Beautiful Bakersfield. Beautiful BC.

Uncategorized October 31, 2020 1 Comment
Halloween morning at 6:00 a.m. check out the Blue Moon

Happy Halloween, Renegades!

Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, October 31, 2020, a Blue Moon Halloween … and a great day to be a Renegade.

Chancellor Oakley & CCC Board of Governors Visit Bakersfield College

On Monday, Chancellor Eloy Oakley, senior administrators from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, and members of the Board of Governors made a virtual visit to BC to meet with students, faculty, staff, and members of the community.

Chancellor Oakley, Chancellor Burke, President Christian

The event started with an internal meeting highlighting BC students in Umoja, MESA, Early College, and more. Visit the CCCCO Virtual Listening Tour page for more details about the Chancellor’s Office meeting.

The Chancellor’s Office concluded their visit with a virtual town hall. Chancellor Oakley shared about his office’s Vision for Success, outlining goals to help us hold ourselves accountable for student performance. Chancellor Oakley answered questions about adult education, his personal history as an administrator at Long Beach City College, technology infrastructure at community colleges, and more.

He then presented BC with a Certificate of Recognition and a $5000 donation to the food pantry.

I enjoyed seeing Eloy’s tweet after this event:

Finish Line Scholars

Before Chancellor Oakley’s visit, the Chancellor’s Office and the Foundation for California Community Colleges announced that BC was one of the recipients of the Finish Line Scholars fund, a $100 million pledge distributed to 34 community colleges over 20 years. The Finish Line Scholars program provides scholarships to students who are halfway through their education plan of completing a degree or transferring to a 4-year university. Funding for the program was provided through a gift from the Jay Pritzker Foundation.

Beautiful Bakersfield Awards

Last Saturday night, the Greater Bakersfield Chamber announced the winners of the 3oth Annual Beautiful Bakersfield Awards.

Congressman William M. Thomas received the Harvey L. Hall Lifetime Achievement award.

William M. Thoams

While William M. Thomas is known nationally for having spent 14 terms in D.C. from 1979 to 2007, and as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee in his final 6 years before retirement. Those of us in Bakersfield know Bill for the ways he has fundamentally changed the landscape of the city we call home.

His life’s work – tending to the daily details of navigating the intricacies of sometimes very obscure legislative matters – has been regularly punctuated by major wins in service to the community. Consistently ranked among the brainiest in Washington, Thomas strategically used his influence to improve the lives of the residents of Bakersfield.  As one drives the streets of Bakersfield, walks the Bakersfield College campus, or flies into Bakersfield Airport, it is impossible to miss his contributions.

Bill Thomas, Sharon Thomas

Through his coalition-building skills Congressman Thomas secured nearly a billion dollars in congressional funds for Bakersfield:

  • Successfully earmarking $722 million in federal transportation funding for Kern County roads, single-handedly connecting the I5 to the Sierras, and opening access to education and employment for some of the region’s most isolated communities
  • Garnering $40 million in congressional funding for the Valley Fever Vaccine Project
  • Obtaining $14.7 million for improvements to Bakersfield’s Meadows Field Airport

Yet, his service to the community didn’t end upon retirement.  In 2016, he joined the Kern Community College District Board of Trustees. During his tenure, the district secured half a billion-dollar bond measure to support facilities and infrastructure improvements for the next fifty years.  During his time as chair of the district’s Board Accreditation Committee, each of KCCD’s three colleges’ fully accredited status was reaffirmed.

Bill Thomas speaking

With these contributions, it is no surprise that as we fly into the William M. Thomas Terminal, we are greeted by a bust of a man who has done so much for this community. And while Bakersfield will forever associate “The Congressman” with Bill Thomas, we remember Bill first as a young Bakersfield College professor.  The first in his family to go to college, Bill paved the way for thousands of community college students, residents in our rural communities, and local leaders.

Congressman Thomas remains committed to Bakersfield’s residents, and only recently retired from public service as a KCCD Trustee. 

Other winners included:

CityServe, which won the Chairman’s Award. CityServe distributed goods through 109 chuches of all denominations to help 20,000 households, as well as distributing backpacks, sleeping bags and other goods to area homeless. CityServe is also partnering with Bakersfield College and County of Kern to provide job skills training to those who are living in our local shelters.

John P. Lake, who was named Business Person of the Year. JP created the Kern Venture Group, the first angel investor fund for local entrepreneurs. He is also one of the founders of the Kern Initiative for Talent and Entrepreneurship (KITE).

Give Big Kern – One Day to Celebrate the Giving Spirit of Kern County, which received the A Better Bakersfield award. In 2019, this event raised nearly $430,000 from 2,800 donors and secured more than 88,000 volunteer pledged hours for 114 participating charities.

You can view a list of all winners online.

Thank you Nick Ortiz and the Chamber for this fabulous event. A special shout out to Hillary Hanes – the lead staff for this event.

Padrinos de Bakersfield College

Abel Guzman shared an email this week announcing the relaunch of Padrinos de Bakersfield College:

“Padrinos was an initiative led by our now retired dean, Cornelio “Corny” Rodriguez for many years. Our hope is to honor his years of service by relaunching and continuing the group’s work.“

This week, the group celebrated their relaunch by hosting a Dia de Los Muertos curbside pan dulce pick-up event on Friday.

Check out these photos from the event:

Corny Rodriguez
Olivia Garcia dressed up for the event

At the end of the last academic year, Corny won a lifetime achievement award. Check out these two videos.

Video Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I asked the Women’s History Month Faculty Leads and the BC Pre-Law Club to put together a tribute to the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that premiered on Thursday, October 29, live at 5:30 p.m on BC’s YouTube channel and Facebook live. The video features Kern County Superior Court Judges Robert Tafoya and Susan Gill, Commissioner Cynthia Loo,  and District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer.

Today, I am sharing my introduction from the tribute.

You can view the full 36 minute tribute video at https://youtu.be/yHWGakqaLZc. I will continue sharing pieces from this production in the coming weeks.

Thank you to Olivia Garcia, Maria Wright, Pearl Urena, Norma Rojas-Mora for their work in coordinating this tribute, and thank you to Valerie Urso and Manny de Los Santos for the video production and content editing.

The Effects of Colorism on Latina and Black Youth Panel

Bakersfield College’s Latinas Unidas and Latina Leaders of Kern County bring another discussion panel to discuss the sensitive topic of discrimination. According to the Pew Research Center, Latino and Black youth with darker skin tones are six times more likely to face discrimination due to the color of their skin. Panelists will speak about colorism in the Latinx and Black community. Register now for the panel taking place on Wednesday, 11/4/2020 – 5:30PM.

This is the third in the webinar series; webinars were also held on October 22 and October 29.

During the October 22 webinar, Sandy Woo-Cater, Co-director for the Kern Coalition Against Human Trafficking, shared some of her experiences with racism – particularly in a bi-racial relationship:

Registration for Spring 2021

Early Registration begins Wednesday November 4, 2020 for Spring 2021 classes! This semester has flown by, midterms are over, and it is time to start planning your Spring classes. Remember to complete your update form in order to get your Registration Date. If you have any questions or problems, visit the Student Information Desk Monday – Thursday 9AM – 6PM. Looking forward to the Spring!

November is Veterans Month

November 11 is the Veterans Day holiday to honor those who have served our country both in war and peace. At BC, we celebrate and honor our veteran students for the whole month. This year, celebrations include the Distinguished Speaker David French, the invitation-only 30 Unit Coining Ceremony & Touch Point and the Success Pack distribution. Get details on the BC website at Veterans Month.

Last year in November we celebrated the month with the opening of the VRC. See other highlights of our celebration in my November 10, 2019 blog. Here are a few pictures from previous events:

  • A garden of American flags in the grass.

Art on PBS

BC Art Adjunct Faculty Diego Gutierrez Monterubio was featured on Valley PBS this week with a 5-minute film “Pintor Diego.” The film, along with 9 other local films, was part of this year’s #TheBigTell.

Thank you Diego Gutiérrez Monterrubio for sharing your story with the Central Valley.

You can check out the film online.

#ABetterBC Update

Chemistry professor Deb Rosenthal sent me this photo of construction of sthe new Science building. Even while we are not able to be on campus, work continues to create #ABetterBC.

Archives Throwback

“Dasein”, a poem by Jim Lynn (1971)

The following poem by Jim Lynn was published in the May 26, 1971 edition of the Renegade Rip. Loosely translated from German, the word “dasein” equates to the English word “existence” and was a frequent expression used by the philosopher Martin Heidegger.

Dasein

Yonder, in the Panhandle,
My thoughts are hiding
Until after the sun
Has paled the horizon
Then shall we meet
In mortal union
Within corpse of lilac corpse
And pass the image of a friend.
The basking tombstone.
We shall nurse the choking
Of a Sophist pond
But we know she cannot smile,
For the clandestine curse
Of time, in stealthy stalking,
Muses our isolation.
And after the variegate cliffs
Are clothed in peignoir
Of twilight shadow
We shall wait for
Soliloquies of crickets
To die in solitude,
Leaving us alone
With the pond,
Wherein we weep
For the passing
Of Spring

– Jim Lynn

Spotted on Social Media

Anthropology Professor Krista Moreland shared these photos of her cat, Pepper:

Maria Wright, Director of Student Support Services, shared a picture of her son getting into the Halloween spirit:

Athletics

New Renegade Themed Zoom Backdrops Are Here

Step-up your Zoom game on your next video conference call with these official Renegade themed backgrounds! Right-click each image to save the background.

Click Here to learn how to use custom backgrounds on Zoom.

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

BC – We’ve got talent

Uncategorized October 25, 2020 1 Comment

Did you vote?

Chancellor Tom Burke

Follow our chancellor’s lead…. he dropped off his ballot today at the BC ballot box.

Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, October 24, 2020…a great day to be a Renegade.

Kern Shakespeare Festival: “The Comedy of Errors”

The 36th annual Shakespeare festival kicked off this week with the virtual premiere of “The Comedy of Errors”,  directed by Bob Kempf. The performers have adapted the slapstick of the Bard’s original “Comedy of Errors” into a Chaplinesque silent film with masks. Performances of the play aired online Thursday, October 22 through Saturday, October 24.

For the first time at this year’s Kern Shakespeare Festival, alongside the Shakespeare plays, the theater department will begin premiering a production created by playwrights of color. Premiering Thursday, October 29 is a performance of “Bootycandy”, a semi-autobiographical play written by Robert O’Hara that premiered in 2015. The festival close-out production is Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Check the Kern Shakespeare Festival Facebook page for ticket information for upcoming shows.

BC High School Chamber Singers Festival Moves Online

On Monday, the BC Chamber Singers hosted their annual BC High School Chamber Singers Festival. In past years, 14 high school chamber choirs would have come to the BC campus for the event.

This year, the format changed to a Zoom event with Grammy-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre.

Performing Arts Department Chair Jennifer Garrett shared that 15 high school choirs, plus CSUB choirs and more were scheduled to attend the virtual event – including a Q&A session with Eric.

Jennifer shared the piece that Eric discussed at the event:

Latina Leaders of Kern

Bakersfield College, BC’s Latinas Unidas student organization, and the Latina Leaders of Kern County came together to host their first webinar in a series on race and diversity relations. Norma Rojas-Mora, BC’s Director of Community Relations who serves on the Board of Directors for the Latina Leaders of Kern County, was the moderator for the panel on Wednesday, October 21: “A Dialogue on the Intricacies of Race and Relationships”. Maria Wright was a featured panelist, along with HelloBakersfield podcast host Carla Barrientos and Sandy Woo-Cater, the Co-Director of the Kern Coalition Against Human Trafficking.

I will be sharing videos from this webinar in my blog. Today, I’m sharing Carla Barrientos’ introduction. In this 2:12 video, she shares a little about her background and her experiences being in a biracial relationship.

Next week, I will continue to share short video clips from the webinar, as well as a link to the video of the full webinar.

Art, Architecture and Archetypes

The Levan Center focused its “Art, Architecture and Archetypes” discussion on Wednesday around art and lockdowns, examining the different ways that disease and isolation have impacted art over time.

Professor Rae Ann Kumelos opened her remarks with an mythological exploration of hubris, showing stories from the Greek canon where the gods have punished mankind for its failures to reckon with reason and science. Apollo, the god of reason and science, was also the god who could cast plagues with his arrows.

Art professor Ronnie Wrest showed several art pieces inspired by pandemics and disease, highlighting paintings from Edvard Munch alongside an 1890 print depicting Japanese folklore. He also showed some street art made during the 2020 pandemic to celebrate health workers.

Ronnie Wrest shows Edvard Munch’s “The Sick Child” during Art, Architecture, and Archetypes

Kimberly Chin shared about the impact of the pandemic on Broadway theater. The New York theater district, which is the biggest in the world, had only closed 14 times before the pandemic, mostly related to strikes or natural disasters. In fact, the theater stayed open during the Spanish flu. The current pandemic is the longest time that Broadway has been closed in its history, and it looks to continue closure well into next year.

Krista Moreland gave a presentation on the way art about pandemics reflected different cultural values and needs that evolved over time. Pandemics were initially perceived as “punishment” for sinners, and woodcut illustrations were used to communicate the dangers about plagues for a primarily illiterate population . Eventually, as culture evolved to perceive plague victims with more empathy, artists depicted their struggles with more humanity. Pandemics changed the urban landscape as we began to understand disease, and images from newspapers, drawings and video recordings could directly depict disease in HD.

Thank you to Levan Center director Reggie Williams and all of the panelists for their participation in this virtual forum about art and pandemics.

Latino Inspire Awards Recognize Norma Rojas-Mora

  • Norma Rojas-Mora
  • TJ Cox

BC’s Norma Rojas-Mora was recognized by Rep. TJ Cox during this year’s Latino Inspire Award celebration. Rep. Cox first hosted the Latino Inspire Awards in 2019 in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated since 1988 from September 15th to October 15th.

Rep. Cox recognized Norma for all her years of service and her work to inspire positive change throughout the Bakersfield Community. Congratulations to Norma and the full list of deserving recipients.

  • Fresno County: Jacqueline Martinez, Juan Esparza Loera, Ofelia Ochoa, Roberto Vaca
  • Kings County: Ivette Stafforini, Martha Tamayo, Dr. Adalberto Renteria, Amory Marple
  • Kern County: Rosalinda Chairez, Magda Menendez, Ana Vigil, Matthew Cauthron, Norma Rojas-Mora
  • Organizations: Centro la Familia and the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Student Success Lab offers Standardized Test Prep Course

All of us at one time or another have had to take a make-or-break sort of test, such as TEAS (Nursing), CBEST, CSET, ASVVAB (Military), GED, SAT, ACT, and WorkKeys. But did you know that you can prepare for these by signing up for practice exercises that are free, ungraded, online (PLATO software), and at your own pace?!

Our very own Student Success Lab is now offering EDUC B80 Test Prep for Careers. Signing up couldn’t be easier: register any time this semester for CRN 75692, which is EDUC B80NC. Then send an email to our Director, Kim Nickell (knickell@bakersfieldcollege.edu) with your student ID# and birth date. Professor Nickell and her staff will then set up your account and test prep activities in PLATO and email the login information to you. You can also access the course through Canvas, which will contain further resources on test taking tips and strategies.

Early College at the #SSSC20 Virtual Conference

Early College was asked to present on the Online Collaborative Model of course delivery at the Strengthening Student Success 2020 Virtual Conference. Program Directors Kylie Campbell & Nicole Alvarez were joined by BC faculty member Teresa Mcallister and her online collaborative teaching partner, McFarland High School faculty, Angela Quinn. The four of them detailed the evolution of BC’s online collaborative module and the adapting they have had to do in light of the COVID pandemic.

Bakersfield Young Professionals Diversity Panel

Abel Guzman represented BC and the EODAC committee at the 2020 Bakersfield Young Professionals Summit, speaking as part of a panel on diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. 

At the panel on October 14, Abel helped answer questions about recruiting and hiring diverse talent, diversification in the workplace, and more, along with Claudia Catota, Chief Diversity Officer at CSUB; Jane Myneni, Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement Lead at Aera; and moderator Carla Barrientos, host of the HelloBakersfield Podcast.

You can watch the full video of the panel on the Greater Bakersfield Chamber’s YouTube account.

Thank you, Abel, for representing BC on this esteemed panel, and thank you to the Chamber and the Bakersfield Young Professionals for inviting BC to participate.

#LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation

Today, I am sharing the final videos from this summer’s #LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation programming.

Commitment from Rural Communities & Rural Initiatives:

Commitment from HEAL:

I would once again like to thank everyone for the time, effort, thought and care that went into this programming. It truly was a community conversation.

You can find out more about the #LightACandle project and see all the videos at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/aai/lightacandle-a-juneteenth-conversation.

Upcoming: Premiere of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Tribute

Please join me in celebrating the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg on Thursday, October 29, live at 5:30 p.m on BC’s YouTube channel and Facebook live. This very special tribute, organized by the Pre-Law Club and the Women’s History and More committee, has been in the making for a few weeks, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

For more information, visit the BC website!

Spotted on Social Media

Talita Pruett shared this picture of her beautiful family, and found the positives in these unprecedented times:

“One of the upsides of distance learning and working remotely is that we can work from the beach. So, we’ve been working/ studying from Morro Bay as much as we can. It is a blessing to be able to go on walks early in the morning before we start work/school and late in the afternoon after we are all done with work…Being safely outdoors, when we’ve been isolated/ at home for seven months now, is divine. It is a balm for the body and the soul.”

Cindy Collier shared this photo from getting takeout at the Renegade Room:

“BC Renegade Room and Culinary students continuing their education with take out food services. Chef Suzannne and Logan were so hospitable and the food is wonderful. BC faculty and students are innovative and flexible.“

Athletics

Baseball’s Caggienelli Headed to CSUB

Renegade Baseball pitcher Benji Caggienelli announced this week his commitment to play at the next level across town at Cal State Bakersfield. The right-handed pitcher played just this shortened spring season at BC after a stellar high school career at Ridgeview High School. He is the third baseball player this year to move on to the four-year level. Congrats Benji! We’ll be rooting for you!

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

BC continues to be vibrant virtually

Uncategorized October 18, 2020 Leave a comment

As KCCD launches an exciting partnership with NREL focused on energy opportunities at BC, I thought it would be a great time to look back and see what BC has done in the past to lead the way in the conversation about energy in the Central Valley. 

In 1979, the Renegade Raconteur reported on BC professor Bob Tuttle, who was known across the state for teaching other community college professors about what was, at the time, the new and uncharted world of solar energy.

More than 40 years later, we have major solar energy projects in California City, Rosamond and throughout Kern County, and programs like Energy TT&WD will help us expand those projects even further.

Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, October 17, 2020…a great day to be a Renegade.

Check out the story by Raconteur Editor Gerrie Kincaid, with photos by Jeff Kasinger.

Solar energy workshop held at BC

By Gerrie Kincaid
Raconteur Editor

Bakersfield College instructor Bob Tuttle has been helping teach solar energy systems installation to other community college instructors from throughout California and the Western US. The work is being done under a $95,000 US Department of Energy grant to the League of Innovation in the Community College.

Tuttle and his partner on the project, Bill Abernathy of Orange Coast Community College, have designed a 28-foot mobile trailer with a built-in solar space heater using heat stored rocks and a hydronic solar energy system. This was put on display at the solar energy workshop held at BC in October. Twenty instructors attended this meeting for an intensive workshop on solar energy theory, practical systems and how to teach others to install them.

During the fall semester, Tuttle taught a night class titled Solar I, which dealt mostly with the solar heating and cooling of residential buildings. “I go into the basic theory of solar heating on their [the students’] own home,” stated Tuttle. “We discuss economics involved and the various types of systems.”

In order to make his students better shoppers for solar energy systems, Tuttle teaches the real application of solar energy rather than the arts and crafts aspect of it.

“I’m into proven working systems,” stated Tuttle. “This includes things you need to know to purchase, and what is needed for your own home.”

Tuttle said he would eventually like to teach day classes on solar energy that involved energy conservation in the home, sizing installation and designing systems.

Another Jack Hernandez, inspired by a hibiscus flower:

Silent Beauty

A single red flower
bows its head,
Perhaps in meditation
searching for a thought
about solitude’s consolation,
Perhaps waiting for another
to share the ecstasy
of opening to life,
Perhaps with sadness
in air woven with conflict,
Perhaps simply praying
that we will occasionally stop
to wonder at its silent beauty.

Project HireUp Video Premiere

On Thursday, October 15, 2020, the Project HireUp: A Community Collaborative to End Homelessness video premiered on YouTube and Facebook. Great partnersip with CityServ, Mission for Kern County, The Homeless Shelter, and Adventist Health.

Find out how a dynamic partnership among Kern County organizations is taking homeless people to a job with wraparound services designed to fill every gap that leads to homelessness. Thank you Endee Grijalva, Program Manager of Adult Education; Valerie Urso, Web Content Editor; John Harrer, Student Intern; and the many others involved in producing this video.

A Week of Celebration and Success for Outreach & Early College

This week was fun and busy for our Outreach & Early College team! They started off the week by celebrating our beloved Steve Watkin’s birthday with a virtual celebration and surprises delivered to his house throughout the day. Happy Birthday, Steve!

The team added pictures of Steve to their virtual background
to have a fun Zoom celebration.
Steve got some surprise deliveries throughout the day!

Amidst the celebration, they also planned an Express Enrollment event specifically for our 8-week late start classes that begin next week.

The team assisted 75 students on Wednesday with issues that would have prevented each of them from registering in classes if our team was not there to provide immediate assistance. This care and service for our students is what makes us BC. We are BC!!

BC Bowlers Bowl Virtually

The BC Faculty and Staff Bowling league returned to action on Thursday, October 8th in a new format–via Zoom. Bowlers have missed seeing each other each Thursday, so they’re excited to be together again. The league is using Cat Bowling.net just in time for Halloween!

If anyone would like to join them, please e-mail Susan Pinza at spinza@bakersfieldcollege.edu, and she’ll send you the link. This is a fun way to meet faculty and staff from all over campus.

Kern Shakespeare Festival moves online

From Brian Sivesind in our Theatre Department:

“For 35 years, Bakersfield College has found a way to mount its annual Kern Shakespeare Festival. We persevered through the Great Recession, through years with no theatre to call home, and through many a background football game, rainstorm, or helicopter adding “ambience” to our performances in the Outdoor Theatre. While we may not be able to present live productions this year, the show must… and Will… go on. (See what I did there?)

For the 36th annual Kern Shakespeare Festival, we will be presenting Bootycandy by Robert O’Hara, directed by Tevin Joslen. Along with this exciting new play, we will be presenting The Comedy of Errors, directed by Bob Kempf, and The Tempest, directed by Brian J. Sivesind.”

Information about the virtual productions will be available in the coming weeks. Check back with my blog, or see the Kern Shakespeare Festival Facebook page for more information.

Learning Together

This week, I continued my President’s Virtual Forum series with the second installment of Learning Together. This week’s discussion focused on two videos.

The first is a TED talk from diversity consultant Verna Myers titled “How to Overcome Biases?: Walk Boldly Toward Them” which encourages viewers to recognize their biases in order to overcome them. The video may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYyvbgINZkQ&ab_channel=TED 

The second video of our discussion will be “A Conversation About Growing Up Black” from the award-winning New York Times “Op-Docs” series. African American young men candidly discuss the daily challenges they face. The link for this video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAw51caEeg&feature=youtu.be 

I’d like to share two segments from Thursday’s virtual forum.

Sara Manuel, Psychology Professor:

Mindy Wilmot, Reference Librarian:

I will be archiving all the President’s Virtual Forum series, including the Learning Together series, on my website at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/president/events.

Welcome to the Renegade Family!

Rick Range, a professor of Automotive Technology, shared that he and Darlene have welcomed their new daughter, Naomi.

Congratulations to the Range family!

#LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation

I am continuing to share videos from our #LightACandle productions. This week, I am sharing several commitments from community members and BC faculty & staff. These aired on the final day of production, June 19.

Jay Tamsi & Nick Hill

Keith C. Wolaridge

Vikki Coffee

You can find out more about this production and view all the videos at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/aai/lightacandle-a-juneteenth-conversation.

In the News

Science Sundays

Did you catch Dr. Timothy Plett, one of our physical science faculty, on 23ABC’s Science Sundays last week? He showed viewers how to find the center of mass on any object.

Check it out at https://www.turnto23.com/news/science-sundays/science-sundays-center-of-mass-experiment

Celebrating Higher Education in Bakersfield

BC History faculty member Olivia Garcia wrote the text for a new book celebrating CSUB’s 50th anniversary. Congratulations to Olivia for that labor of love and congratulations to CSUB for 50 years of transformation through education.

Find out more at https://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/community-voices-csub-at-50-book-chronicles-extraordinary-journey/article_e7bcb6e6-0a4e-11eb-9898-0736f46140fe.html

Spotted on Social Media

BC Nursing shared this photo on their Instagram page of Level 1 VN students after completing clinical. Congratulations to our students!

IT Director Todd Coston shared this photo of him and his wife Cari on a road trip to Texas:

The Jones Art Gallery at BC shared this piece of art on their Instagram page. It was created by Darlene Osterkamp in 1970. Darlene was a member of the BC Art Faculty from the 1960s to 1980s.

Nicole Alvarez, Early College Director, shared this photo on Twitter. She presented at the Strengthening Student Success online series along with Kylie Campbell, Teresa McAllister, and Angela Quinn.

Athletics

Once Again Football Dominates the State in Attendance

Since Memorial Stadium was opened to fans in the mid 1950’s, we have consistently led the state in average fan attendance over the course of a football season. This last 2019 football season was no different. As you can see from the graphic, we dominated the rest of the state (and most likely the country) in football attendance for yet another year. We are all anxious to see our Renegades back in action and hope their next football season will be able to kick off in spring 2021 as set by the California Community College Athletics Association (CCCAA) current contingency plan.

‘Out of Bounds’ Special on 23ABC with Coach Littlejohn

This last week 23ABC Sports Director Kari Osep aired a panel of local coaches to discuss racial inequity and injustice. Our very own head football coach R. Todd Littlejohn and a handful of other local high school and college coaches sat down at the Fox Theatre to discuss the topic.

To watch the hour long special on the 23 ABC Facebook page click here:
https://www.facebook.com/345739135535736/videos/343415713546238

Sonya Christian smiling.

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

Fall 2020 – Midterm Notes

Uncategorized October 10, 2020 Leave a comment

Friday sunset!

Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, October 10, 2020…a great day to be a Renegade.

Introducing Bhambi and Christian Blog

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Dr. Brij Bhambi, a cardiologist for almost 40 years and an intellectual giant who will be engaging me in conversations about health, policy, philosophy and more. Check out BhambiAndChristian.com to watch our conversation grow and expand in new directions.

#LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation

Dr. Bhambi was also one of our speakers for the #LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation programming?

I have previously shared his video from the June 18th program, but today I will also share his commitment – which aired on June 19.

You can learn more about this project, or view all the videos, at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/aai/lightacandle-a-juneteenth-conversation.

High School Counselor Conference

Bakersfield College packed the “virtual house” for this year’s High School Counselor Conference held on Thursday, October 8th. Over 160 members from our local high schools attended to learn about the latest information regarding programs and services offered at Bakersfield College.

In true Outreach & Early College fashion, they seized the opportunity to have fun with the attendees. Highlights include the BC spirit photo and doing the Cha Cha Slide for a  “stretch” break. Check out the captured moments below.

A BIG thank you to all the presenters who made this happen for our high school partners.

Academic Technology Hosts Online Teaching Forum

As we all continue to adapt to remote teaching and learning, it is inspiring to hear faculty supporting each other during this difficult time. October 6th provided an excellent example of the collegial spirit at Bakersfield College when over 30 faculty members joined Academic Technology for the first faculty forum of the year. The topic for this month was “Teaching Online: Field-tested Strategies from Renegade Faculty.”

The October faculty forum, facilitated by Alex Rockey, provided faculty an opportunity to share their experiences teaching online. Special thanks to the faculty experts who joined us: Christie Howell, Jana Richardson, and Dana Heins-Gelder. As faculty experts, they shared their own strategies for creating imperfect videos, interacting via discussion boards, and enabling conversations through strategic combinations of Google forms, Adobe Spark, Canvas Studio, and Padlet.

These strategies prompted a lively discussion in which faculty collectively explored how to use video to create connections with students, encourage meaningful participation in office hours, and curate existing videos to illustrate specific concepts.

During the semester, Academic Technology will host a faculty forum on various topics related to teaching and technology on the first tuesday of each month at 3:00 pm. The topic for the November 3rd faculty forum will be: “Using Video: Interactive lectures, feedback, and more!”

If you were unable to attend the event, a post compiling specific strategies discussed at the event will be available October 13th on the new BC Academic Technology blog at https://bcacademictechnology.wordpress.com/.

Quique Rivera to speak at BC October 14th

Quique Rivera

Quique Rivera is a Puerto Rican artist based in Los Angeles. He is an extensively awarded artist, animator, sculptor, and film maker. He has participated in international film festivals from Havana to Moscow over the past decade. Winning the Grand Jury Award at the 2012 New Orleans Film Festival for his film, El delirio del pez león. He was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2015, had his films screened at over 70 international film festivals and currently has work on view at the Museum of Latin American Art.

For more information and samples of his work visit: Quique Rivera Rivera Artist/Animator.

For more, check out https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/event/guest-lecturer-quique-rivera-artist-and-animator.

HEAL Webinar: Wrap Up Page

The Health Equity and Learning (HEAL) webinar has wrapped, and the speaker presentations are now available for viewing in a couple different places listed below. You can also download the PDF’s of the presentations at the webinar page.

View at the Webinar Page.

View the full playlist on YouTube.

Opening Day 2020

As you may know, every year Bakersfield College has a big celebration for Opening Day. This year, that celebration moved online and transformed into a weeklong event (and, due to some technical difficulties, it actually spanned two weeks!)

Today, I wanted to share this video from Senator Jean Fuller and Early College Program Director Kylie Campbell, highlighting the Early College program:

Please visit the Opening Week 2020 website to see all the videos from this year’s programming.

Spotted on Social Media

Anthropology Professor Krista Moreland showed off her BC face mask on facebook:

Jonathan Schultz, one of our counselors, shared a post on his Facebook page from the Umoja club, after the group was able to have a meet up with masks and physical distancing:

Astronomy Professor & Planetarium Director Nick Strobel shared a post about Andrea Ghez, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Reinhard Genzel and Roger Penrose:

Check out the video about her work at the Keck Observatory.

The BCSGA Instagram page shared this #ThrowbackThursday photo of the BC lunchline circa 1975:

The Jones Art Gallery shared this beautiful painting on their Instagram page:
Happy FriYAY! Make it a good one! ✨ • Phil Paradise • Flores • CA • 1960 Serigraph • Bakersfield College Art Collection

Athletics

Renegade Athletics Brand Power

Bakersfield College Athletics has long been known as a state-leader in athletics excellence throughout the California Community College Athletics Association (CCCAA). The following graphic proves one huge area in which Renegade Athletics blows away the competition – social media. This is a developing area and since July 2018 we have seen a dramatic upswing in both the number of followers and engagement to our main Renegade social media pages.

In terms of followers Facebook has grown 154%, Twitter has grown (148%) and Instagram has grown (1640%). As the graphic illustrates, we lead the state – by a long shot – in numbers of total followers to our main athletics Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages. Great job athletics and keep up the great branding work!

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

Renegade Alums are everywhere. We are BC!

Uncategorized October 3, 2020 1 Comment

Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, October 3, 2020…a great day to be a Renegade.

Scholarship Season Begins at BC

Scholarships and FAFSA opened on October 1st. I encourage all of our Renegades to Apply 4 Money. Our scholarship manager, Amanda Stone, tells me that there is over $500,000 to give away! There is one easy online application to apply for nearly 300 unique opportunities. 70% of the scholarships are merit-based while 30% are need-based.  There are scholarships for all types of students and majors. There are even transfer scholarships available. Make sure to spread the word and get all of our Renegades to Apply 4 Money!

Energy Technology Transfer and Workforce Development

Bakersfield College and Kern Community College District are embarking on a region-wide strategic partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

A secure and stable energy future depends on an innovative coalition of public and private partners in an interconnected market where instability creates short-term winners and losers. Only the research capabilities of national laboratories and research universities, deployed for the workplace and workforce in a broad public/private alliance, have the potential to both hedge against short-term volatility and create long-term stability.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors spoke about this project at their September 22 meeting:

You can learn more about this effort at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/energy-TTWD.

On Wednesday, October 7, at 10 a.m. BC will hold our first Energy Technology Transfer and Workforce Development webinar on energy opportunities impacting the future of Kern County.

Featured speakers include Dr. David Mooney from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); Lorelei Oviatt from Kern County Planning and Natural Resources; Leticia Perez, Chair, Kern County Board of Supervisors; Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, CA 22 District; Cathy Reheis-Boyd, President Western States Petroleum Association; Sarah Kurtz, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, UC Merced; and Richard Chapman, CEO, Kern Economic Development Corporation

Visit the webinar registration page to sign up and receive more information. 

You can find out more about this webinar on the BC website.

Panorama Creative Music Summit 2020 – Dave Bazan

Next week, Dave Bazan, indie rock singer and songwriter will be showcased as part of the Panorama Creative Music Summit. Bazan, along with Pedro the Lion, will perform Tuesday, October 6, at 4:30 for about 20-30 minutes followed by a Q&A session with students. The session will be held on Zoom and broadcast free to the public via Facebook Live on the Bakersfield College Jazz Studies Facebook page.

You can also see videos from previous Panorama Creative Music Summit musicians on the Jazz Studies Facebook page.

There are lots more performances to look forward to through December, you can see the lineup on the Dave Bazan event page.

Job Corps Grant

Bakersfield College has received a grant for over $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide 80 Job Corps-eligible students with career technical training and career guidance.

Anthony Cordova
Anthony Cordova speaks at the Grand Opening from a previous blog

Thank you Tony Cordova and team for your work on securing this funding for our students.

Learn more at BC Receives Grant for Job Corps Scholars Program.

Manufacturing Day

On Wednesday, October 7, Bakersfield College will hold the annual Manufacturing Day 2020. Local High Schools and the Bakersfield Community are welcome to attend this day which will include virtual presentations on manufacturing related programs, along with virtual laboratory tours and demonstrations.

Our Industrial Technology department encompasses multiple areas related to manufacturing. There will also be representatives from the following programs: Occupational Safety and Risk Management, Welding, Industrial Drawing, Architecture, Construction, Engineering, Automotive, Ag Mechanics, Industrial Automation and Manufacturing. In addition, industry employers will participate with virtual informational sessions, answer questions, general inquiries, and demonstrate products and machines related to manufacturing. 

Anyone interested may register for Manufacturing Day.

Alumni Update

Tribute to BC Alum David Milazzo

This week, the Bakersfield Californian published a beautiful tribute to BC alum David Young Milazzo.

David was a talented architect whose work had a tremendous impact on Bakersfield’s landscape. He was also a devoted Rotarian and a loving husband and father who truly cared for the people in his community.

You can read it online at https://lnkd.in/gntb4Dg.

Renegade Alumni Council interview

This week, the Renegade Alumni Council hosted a live interview on Facebook. 2019 BCCSGA President Ashley Harp interviewed 2019 graduate Ines Castillo. Ines is a first generation college student, and she shared her experiences at Bakersfield College.

I look forward to seeing more interviews with our alumni in the weeks and months to come!

If you haven’t heard much about the Renegade Alumni Council, I’d like to share two videos from Opening Day 2020.

Becki Whitson, BC Alumni Association President, and I discussed Renegade Alumni engagement and the new Renegade Alumni Council:

And previous BCSGA Presidents Alex Dominguez, Clayton Fowler, Matthew Frazer, Dezi Von Manos, Ashley Harp, and Samantha Pulido created this video to promote it:

You can find more videos from Opening Day 2020 at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/president/opening-week-2020.

First-Ever 100% Online Tutoring Conference

This past Friday, September 25, BC Tutoring embraced virtual interaction at a new level by successfully holding its first completely Zoom-based conference, hosted by tutors from the CRLA Level 2 Tutor Training course.

About 28 tutors, staff, and students came together in one of the Tutoring Center Zoom rooms and had a memorable time of learning and interacting, both as a whole group and in frequent breakout room sessions.

Professor Matt Jones was a guest speaker on the subject of peer learning and its unique power to help students reach their learning goals.

  • Seth Nedever; Jack, Eileen, Cathy Pierce
  • Matt Jones

Other topics on the agenda included tutoring roadblocks, tutor hopes and fears, a pictionary game using the Zoom whiteboard, online tools for tutors to implement, and strategies for serving tutees with special needs as well as older tutees who may struggle with technology.

Thank you Eileen Pierce for this well-organized event. All that was lacking was a slice of pizza and a soda (maybe some background music, too). At the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester, pulling off a virtual conference like this would have been beyond belief, but the Tutoring folks not only pulled it off–they did it with amazing skill!

We can all be proud of our Tutoring team!

BC at CCEMC Dual Enrollment Summit

Jean Fuller was keynote speaker at the CCEMC 7Th Annual Dual Enrollment Summit

This past Friday, BC had a large presence at the California Coalition of Early and Middle College (CCEMC) 7th Annual Dual Enrollment Summit. Though the convening of dual enrollment programs from across the state was originally planned to take place in Sacramento this year, the summit went virtual and had a great turnout.

I was able to catch a very special keynote address from our beloved senator emeritus, Jean Fuller. Dr. Fuller is a true advocate for education and for Early College students, particularly those from our rural communities. Needless to say, Jean was a big hit!

Another member of our BC team, Kylie Campbell, moderated the student panel at this summit. Kylie herself was a dual enrollment student in high school, and her connection with these students from throughout the state made for a very special session.

Students from different dual enrollment programs in California shared their experiences in the programs offered at their high schools, and also shared personal stories of how COVID has impacted their lives and education.

And then I saw this post from Abel Guzman, who was also a presenter with Elysa Vargas from Wonderful.

BC was in full force at this statewide summit, shining light on the trailblazing work happening here at BC. We are BC!

HVAC/R program update

I am proud to announce that the HVAC/R program has continued moving forward, despite the obstacles and challenges of today. 

From its inception the program has been meeting needs by acquiring the types of equipment and tools that entry-level technicians would need to work on in today’s modern air conditioning and refrigeration industry. 

Thank you to Rudy Salas for continued support of Bakersfield College!

Over the last six months of being mostly a virtual learning environment, the program has continued to stay current by acquiring a new commercial grade walk-in low temperature freezer. 

Steps are already being taken to begin the construction of the system. This will be a hands-on project for our students. Once completed the system will be used by students for diagnostic procedures, adjustment procedures, and component identification of a full-scale commercial refrigeration system. 

In addition to the new walk-in, the HVAC/R program has acquired a forklift to be used as the program expands. We are thankful for Assembly Member Rudy Salas who made this funding possible.

BC Presents at Statewide Equity Conference

I was proud to watch BC’s Director of Student Success & Equity, Lesley Bonds, present at the statewide California Community College’s Pathways to Equity virtual conference this week.  In their session titled, “Keeping Equity Central: Applying Lessons from the Central Valley,”the presenters discussed the ways in which students in the Central Valley have been affected by what I’m calling a “triple crisis” – COVID-19, the economy/unemployment, and racial unrest.

Using regional data and BC survey data that recently revealed the challenges students are navigating due to the transition to an online environment, Lesley made the case that equity leaders throughout the Central Valley need to unite for system-wide reform to secure resources and spark policy change to address the digital divide, food and housing insecurity, and mental health concerns.

#RealTalk with Danny Morrison

On Tuesday the 29th, Bakersfield College hosted the 9th Episode of #RealTalk with moderator Danny Morrison. This episode focused on DREAMers and their journey at Bakersfield College. You can view the full show on Danny Morrison Media’s page HERE.

Two recent BC graduates, Jared Torres a sociology major and Karen Cid, a psychology major, shared the challenges they have faced as undocumented students. Karen recently earned an Associate’s degree from BC in Psychology and has successfully transferred to CSUB and is working towards a Bachelors in Psychology. Jared also graduated this past May with four Associate’s degrees and a certificate. 

Karen talked about EOP&S and the other financial and social networking support that BC provides to undocumented students. For more information on the resources available, click here.

Jared gave a special shout out to our EOP&S faculty counselor, Manuel Rosas, who helped orchestrate the Latinos Unidos Por Educación (LUPE) student organization. Thank you to Imelda Simos-Valdez, Manuel Rosas, Rafael Centeno, Pedro Ramirez, and the many other members of the completion coaching community who support our Dreamers.

I really enjoyed listening to the students’ stories that led to their success. #SomosBC

#LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation

On the final day of our #LightACandle: A Juneteenth Conversation programming, we shared a series of commitments from local and state leaders.

Today, I’m sharing three of those commitments.

State Senator Shannon Grove:

Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh:

Bakersfield Police Chief Greg Terry:

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

Community Voices

BC graduate Lanie Camarillo – who transferred to Western Oregon University – wrote a Community Voices piece in the Bakersfield Californian titled “The life-changing BC volleyball program.”

She wrote of how coach Carl Ferriera pushed his players and encouraged them to invest in themselves and each other.

“My last two years with the Renegades were ones of complete transformation. At first I struggled, something that my teammates and I would learn was part of the process. We would come to understand that struggling was the key component to growing and we began to embrace it.”

Spotted on Social Media

Endee Grijalva, Adult Education Program Manager, South Kern, shared this tweet about the Californians Deserve Credit Town Hall this week:

On Instagram, the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce shared these photos from the COVID-19 testing at the BC campus this week:

Also on Instagram, the BCSGA shared this throwback photo on their Instagram page, of a Lucille Parmenter’s typing class, Circa 1958:

Librarian Mindy Wilmot shared this photo of her dog helping her out this week:

Associate Professor of History Olivia Garcia showed that her son is following in her footsteps –

“Proud mom moment. When your son volunteers to read to his class about the Sumerians and Hammurabi’s Code.”

Educational Advisor Isabel Castaneda also shared a photo of her son doing some virtual work through Dual Enrollment:

Athletics

Throwback to 2018 Football Media Day

This week in athletics we’re going to throw it back to our 2018 football media day held at Memorial Stadium. While this event was only two years ago, with all we’ve been through in the last six months during the pandemic it seems like it could have been longer.

  • Nick Ellis aNickPhoto.com 661.706.7999
  • Nick Ellis aNickPhoto.com 661.706.7999

The highlight of the day included four of Renegade football student athletes – Cameron Roberson (22), Elisha Ortiz (5), James Thomas (35) and Carson Olivas (10) showing up in a fire engine to greet the crowd in their new Nike game uniforms. What an entrance!

Nick Ellis aNickPhoto.com 661.706.7999

Each of those four went on to earn post-season All-Conference awards due to their play in the 2018 season. Cameron is now playing for UMass, James in now playing for Houston Baptist University and Carson just finished his playing time at UCLA. We are proud of all our Renegade student athletes and are very much looking forward to being back together for times like these!

Nick Ellis aNickPhoto.com 661.706.7999

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

Sonya Christian's Blog