Just returned from a beautiful 3-mile morning walk. Sitting in my backyard reflecting on a hectic and productive week (HACU at Denver, then presenting with Janet Fulks our Renegade Scorecard to a packed room of community college colleagues from around the state at the RP Student Success Conference) and then a wonderful relaxing weekend.
Via Arte at the Market Place:
Via Arte Image from the Bakersfield Museum of Art website
Via Arte space sponsored by Serrano and Tafoya
I checked out the Via Arte chalk art this morning and loved the color and variety, ranging from realistic scenes of nature, cartoon art, to the recreation of impressionist masterpieces and abstract art.
There were individual artists to individually sponsored artist like the 16-year-old artist sponsored by Sandra Serrano and Robert Tafoya to works sponsored by Bolthouse, Brighthouse and Chevron.
Next year, let’s get a section for our BC Art students.
Nick Strobel’s piece in the Saturday (10/11/2014) Californian:
Nick Strobel. Picture from the Californian’s website
I enjoyed Saturday morning reading Nick’s piece on Religion and Science in the Bakersfield Californian. There are several points he made that inspired me, including this paragraph:
In Christianity we say that we all fall short and are in need of grace, so humility is definitely a virtue. Whenever I hear some supposedly religious authority shout condemnations or some self-righteous speech, I see someone who is either hiding some secret of their own or has only a “head knowledge” of their religion and not any “heart knowledge.” If the outcome of your religious practice is not a more compassionate person, then you’ve missed the point.
I connected this with the articles that the management team selected for the yearlong “reading in community” activity. The first piece was Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham jail. The second was the commencement address given by David Foster Wallace. This short 7-page piece is remarkably powerful. Here is an excerpt:
It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with
knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so
real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time,….
This gaining of wisdom and compassion by moving from as Strobel calls it “head knowledge” to “heart knowledge”; moving from just as Wallace states “knowledge” to “simple awareness of what is so real and essential” is something I believe we should continue to explore together at BC. What might an intentional and shared understanding of these concepts look like?
You can find Nicks’s article on the website at:
Wednesday Reading Group: Craig Rouse (Lead), Danell Ward, Sonya Christian, Amber Chiang, Paul Beckworth
You can find more information on the Management Reading in Community group at:
https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/employees/professional-development/reading-community
We meet approximately once a month. I am in the Monday reading group, but because of a commitment in the community I joined the Wednesday reading group led by Craig Rouse. Our October reading piece was the David Foster Wallace commencement speech that I referred to earlier.
Renegade Football via bakersfield.com (10/1/2014):
Watching BC beat Citrus on the road on my ipad via bakersfield.com
It was a treat to watch BC winning (17-14) on the road against Citrus College on my ipad via bakersfield.com. There was solid play throughout the game, but it sometimes seems to come down to a few defining moments as in Jeff Evans’ Bakersfield Californian headline “Trick plays help Renegades to win over Citrus.” Let’s hear directly from Evans:
BC used two trick plays — the second a 47-yard touchdown pass from receiver Johnson to Derrick Vickers — to come from behind and beat Citrus College 17-14.
“We do it every weekend practice,” Johnson said of his passing play, which began as an apparent end-around as he took a hand off from BC quarterback Cruise Adams…..
Johnson took a couple of steps as though he was going to run the ball, and the Citrus defensive backfield moved toward the line of scrimmage.
Vickers streaked passed the defenders and was merely 10 yards behind the defense when he hauled in the pass at about the 5-yeard line and sprinted into the end zone with 6:27 left.
And that play was set up two plays earlier when
place-kicker Parker campbell, who was in punt formation, ran a designated play and got 10 yrads on a fourthe-and-7 to give BC a first down near midfield.
Great game – go gades!
Jen Garrett and Chamber Singers:
Chamber Singers at USC Oct 2014
Saw this great Facebook post by Jen Garrett about our Chamber Singers at USC.
I am so extremely proud of my BC Chamber Singers! We came to the USC College Choral Festival and they were amazing. They worked so hard in rehearsal and on their own and they came together tonight. It was my great honor and privilege to conduct them on that wonderful stage tonight. We only go up from here.
Don’t forget to check out their Fall Concert on October 24th in the new indoor theater.
