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Thank you Bakersfield, for a great 2016!

Uncategorized December 31, 2016 Comments: 3

2016 — a year of great friendships, great love, great partnerships, great collaboration.

Thank you Bakersfield, thank you Kern County for a great 2016! My blog post from January 2, 2016 (https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/01/02/2016-the-force-awakens/) ends with

Warm wishes to each and every one of you in this amazing community from all faculty, staff and students of Bakersfield College. Here’s to a glorious 2016!

And what a year it has been. A year when the force was definitely with BC.

A year when BC:

produced an increase in student numbers that far exceeds the statewide trends
improved student success outcomes
created efficiencies that save both time and money for students and taxpayers
broadened outreach to Kern county residents, particularly in rural Kern
engaged throughout the community, connecting with business and industry leaders, other educational sectors, and community organizations
positioned the college for even more opportunities in grant funding.

And thank you for passing Measure J!

Bruce our campaign dog

The campus is closed during the week between Christmas and New Year BC. So things have been relatively quiet on the work front with faculty, staff and students spending time with friends, family and loved ones. A few of us have been periodically connecting on grant applications that are due in early February. Most meetings have been via 7:30 a.m. conference calls or meetings at Panera Bread, since offices are not heated to conserve energy during this week.

I published my last blog as I was on a plane from LAX to Toronto. The few days in Toronto with Eisha were perfect — walks, talks, netflix, friends, and good food. The buildings are so well insulated and heated that you can practically walk around inside in a t-shirt, and Eisha taught me how to dress for the cold during our walks. She let me use her ear muffs, which worked wonders in keeping me warm. I did not take many photos this week (I am regretting it now), but here are a few.

eisha-christian-and-sonya-christian-dec-25-2016

What a difference in attire….July 2016 in Canada and Dec 2016 in Canada

sonya-warmly-dressed-for-a-walk-dec-26-2016

Mom was with us last Christmas and joined us in Toronto when we visited in July, but she did not want to face Toronto in December. Here is a picture of three generations on Christmas 2015 which popped up on Facebook.

Kwanzaa Celebration Dec 28, 2016

It was a lot of fun attending the Kwanzaa celebration for the second year in a row. I found myself being inspired by the music and the storytelling. I walked away with much joy and a renewed commitment to spend time with loved ones. Met up with my friends Karen Goh and NaTesha Kindred at the event. Here are a few pictures from both of them.

karen-goh-and-sonya-christian-dec-28-2016-kwanzaa

karen-goh-sonya-christian-david-sandles-dec-28-2016-at-kwanzaa

It was fun talking to the group from the Cain Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church Young People’s Department. David Sandles standing to my left in the photo, is a Freshman at Bakersfield College and a Biochemistry major. So cool!

NaTesha Kindred, Karen Goh, Sonya Christian

Bakari Sanyu

Photo on the left: NaTesha Kindred Johnson, Karen Goh, Sonya Christian

Photo on the right: The Kwanzaa 2016 organizer Bakari Sanyu.

Cathy Abernathy, Rotary, Nov 19 2015

On December 29th I had a series of meetings and joined Cathy Abernathy who was hosting the Ralph Bailey show, and had invited me to be a guest and talk about the happenings at BC. Of course I said yes. It is truly an honor to share the wonderful things happening at BC and also wonderful to hang out with Cathy.

We talked about the work BC is doing with KHSD, about the Career Technical Education programs, the new Bachelor of Science in Industrial Automation etc. We ended with the spectacular event of having an outdoor ice rink in the magnificent Memorial Stadium– 2016 Winterfest! If you have not purchased your tickets yet, you should! January 6th is the celebrity game with Wayne Gretzky(!), and January 7th the Condors play.

I wish I had taken a picture when I was in the studio with Cathy, but I did not do much of that this week. Maybe it is because I am so irritated with myself for having dropped my iphone yet again and widened the crack on the glass…

December 30th, a group of us watched the Bakersfield College Basketball team win yet another game under the leadership of the fabulous coach Paula Dahl. Our students are such a treat and Coach Dahl rocks. It was great to meet Paula’s brother David and his wife who came in from Utah to spend New Years. The young women you see behind David Dahl are students from Stockdale High School, who I am hoping will be future Renegades, and here’s a picture of Sandi Taylor, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg and me having a great time at the game.

David Dahl Dec 30 2016

Coach Paula Dahl and winning team

Sandi Taylor, Sonya Christian, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg

I also connected with Christy Haycock at an exercise class session and Wayne Cooper at CALM’s Holiday Lights.

Sonya Christian, Christ Haycock

Wayne Cooper, Sonya Christian

Here is the LA Times article about the Holiday Lights at CALM.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-christmas-lights-20161218-story.html

Bakersfield Life today:

Saw this great piece on our Dean of Allied Health, Cindy Collier

I spent much of this morning reading previous blog posts and enjoying thinking about all that happened at Bakersfield College and in our community. Here are a few in case you have time to click through:

March 25, 2016 post: The State of Kern County is Strong

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/03/25/the-state-of-kern-county-is-strong/

April 2, 2016: Life at BC is about living life fully.

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/04/02/life-at-bc-is-all-about-living-life-fully/

April 9, 2016: BC and the community — relationships run deep

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/04/09/bc-and-the-community-relationship-runs-deep/

June 4, 2016: A community together

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/06/04/a-community-together/

An excerpt from the post

So here is a calla lily for you, my community, for all that you do on a daily basis to support each other and support the students at BC.

Thank you Fred Misono for making my visit to Bakersfield West Rotary so memorable.

And let’s remember Tharrell Ming — a community leader.

June 9, 2016: We are Bakersfield….We are BC

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/06/19/we-are-bakersfield-and-we-are-bc/

This blog covers two presentations on the bond measure during the educational phase of the campaign to the Hispanic Chamber and Kerntax. A quick note here on Donna Carpenter — we miss you!

July 16, 2016: Building a Better BC

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/07/16/building-a-better-bc/

This blog covers the July 14th board meeting when the trustees voted to put Measure J on the ballot.

Let’s remember Mayor Harvey Hall’s words on Measure J. Thank you Mayor Hall for all that you have done for BC and for Bakersfield.

August 26, 2016: Launching Fall 2016 to Build a Better BC

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/08/20/launching-fall-2016-to-build-a-better-bc/

This post is about BC’s Fall Opening Day. I typically do my State of the College address once a year during Fall Opening. Here is an excerpt:

We live in an era of viral soundbites and tweets rather than one of comprehensive and detailed discussion. But let us not be reluctant to tell our story, openly and honestly; boldly in all its detail; and in all its glory.

Let’s joyfully shout out the BC story from the roof tops for the next 82 days and beyond.

Let us use Twitter….Facebook… Instagram and Snapchat.

Can we get 82 pieces of writing in the community voices section of the Californian? Every day from now until November 8^th. We are BC and we are a Jewel of Kern County.

We will continue to balance bold new directions with elegance and poise. We will continue to encourage punctual completion with gentle compassion and strong support. We see the face, heart, and brilliant mind of each individual student in the crowd of thousands and our mission is as important as it’s ever been.

I’m proud to say the state of Bakersfield College has never been stronger

Just like in 1913 – Just like in the 50s –

Now, in 2016, we stand together to write the next chapter of BC’s story….

Together, let’s build…A Better BC

WE are BC!

September 24, 2016: Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; Faith is the courage to dance to it today.

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/09/24/hope-is-the-ability-to-hear-the-music-of-the-future-faith-is-the-courage-to-dance-to-it-today/

October 8, 2016: So many reasons to celebrate. We are BC!

https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/10/08/so-many-reasons-to-celebrate-we-are-bc/

This is a great one. A must watch. Many video of community leaders talking about BC. This includes Mayor Harvey Hall, Congressman Bill Thomas, Mike Turnipseed, Wayne Kress, David Torres, Fred Prince …..

Harvey Hall

Bill Thomas

Mike Turnipseed

Wayne Kress

David Torres

Fred Prince

Wishing all of you a wonderful 2017. Another year of great friendships, great love, great partnerships and great collaborations.

Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future;
Faith is the courage to dance to it today.

That’s all for now.

Until next week.

With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.

sonya — the luckiest and happiest college president ever

Vision for the Valley: Kern County Leaders Look to the Future at BC

Bakersfield College December 13, 2015 Comments: 3

Sonya Christian

Whether you’re titans of industry, learned academics or pre-schoolers on the playground, there’s a simple rule that holds true — talking through problems is usually the most effective path to workable, sustaining solutions.

Unfortunately, we’re all so busy with our daily lives (especially this time of year) that we have a hard enough time identifying the problems, let alone crafting the complex answers needed to settle them.

So how do we as a community solve the multi-layered puzzle of addressing Kern County’s critical infrastructure needs?

Richard Beene (TBC), Nick Ortiz (Chamber), Victoria Rome (NRDC), Tupper Hull (WSPA)

Well, there are few experiences more energizing than listening to a collection of very smart people talk about very important things — so BC was thrilled to host the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Vision for the Valley summit this week.

Nick Ortiz and our friends at the Chamber really outdid themselves, creating a half-day symposium that assembled some of our area’s most knowledgeable business, legislative and analytical minds to examine issues we all face every day (whether we think about them or not) — issues around energy, water, agriculture, housing, transportation and their interlocking impacts on Kern County’s economy.

Before I get into the content of the summit’s multiple panels, a quick congratulations to the Chamber and our team at BC for the great visual presentation on the Simonsen Performing Arts Center stage. From the Scandinavian type furniture to the backdrop to the impressive lighting package, the production crew behind the summit did a phenomenal job.

As for the panels themselves…well, delving into “big think” topics like this can be an enormous challenge, but the summit’s roster of insightful speakers — under the well-orchestrated direction of moderators Richard Beene and Louis Amestoy of the Bakersfield Californian — crystallized the major points around these complex issues, making them all very relatable. Elizabeth Sanchez did a piece in the Californian on the summit which can be found at

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/2015/12/08/thomas-urges-county-to-seek-half-cent-transporation-sales-tax.html

The Energy, Sustainability and the Economy panel, for instance, brought together natural opponents for a spirited discussion of where the oil industry is headed, particularly focusing on its impact on Kern County, the San Joaquin Valley and the rest of the state’s transportation needs.

Much of the conversation with conservationist advocate Victoria Rome with the National Resources Defense Council and Western States Petroleum Association vice president Tupper Hull centered on state regulation, both its impact on oil producers and whether California was going too far — or not far enough — in overseeing the industry’s activities.

While Victoria was encouraged that California’s 140,000 electric and hybrid cars on the road today could hit the 1 million benchmark by 2030, both agreed the state’s need for oil would likely remain strong for years to come.

“We need to stop looking for simplistic answers to complex questions,” Tupper said.

John Burtchaell (Wells Fargo), DeeDee D’Adamo (State Water Resources Control), Lois Henry (TBC), Louis Amestoy (TBC)

That was a theme that held true throughout the day, including a deep-dive look at the impact of California’s drought on our groundwater demand during the Agriculture and Water Resources panel. DeeDee D’Adamo, a board member with the State Water Resources Control Board, defended and explained, and in some cases, commiserated over the state’s water use policies. Lois Henry made the issues clear in a pragmatic and a “let’s cut to the chase” approach of addressing these complex issues.

Water use in California has reduced by 27 percent in the five months since emergency conservation regulations began in June. While there was general agreement that it will be a long-term, multi-year effort to replenish state water reserves, there was a sense that some form of permanent conservation measures would remain in place even once the drought is declared over, helping to protect the state from future water shortage issues.

Louis Amestoy (The Bakersfield Californian), Greg Bielli (Tejon Ranch), Bill Thomas (former Congressman), Dave Cogdill (former State Senator)

The third and final panel of the day, a round-table talk about housing, land use and transportation, was also a strong contender for highlight of the day, particularly thanks to the spirited engagement and effusive charm of panelist, retired congressman and luminary BC faculty emeritus Bill Thomas.

I wasn’t here during Bill’s teaching career on this very campus from 1965 to 1974, but those nine years as a political science faculty were part of the beginnings of one of Kern County’s most storied political careers. Bill’s 27 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, highlighted by his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, grant him a unique perspective on issues that few others could offer.

One of Bill’s political passions is transportation — and like the true statesmen he is, Bill didn’t hold back, crusading for Kern County to keep pushing through apathy and threats of adjudication to complete the scores of local transportation projects undertaken by his namesake Thomas Roads Improvement Program (TRIP).

Ret. Rep. Bill Thomas and former state Sen. Dave Cogdill on the Housing, Land Use and Transportation panel

Ret. Rep.Bill Thomas, former state Sen.Dave Cogdill

For those who don’t know the history, TRIP has been overseeing the use of $630 million in federal funds secured by Thomas in 2005 to tackle Bakersfield’s specific transportation problems.

He repeatedly framed it as transportation issues that arise when an “east-west” county resides within a “north-south” state. The projects include the completed construction of the Westside Parkway, the State Route 178/Fairfax Road Interchange, the State Route 58 gap closure and the State Route 178/Morning Drive Interchange.

Right now, one of TRIP’s top priorities is to begin work on their largest project, the Centennial Corridor, which will ultimately connect State Route 99 and Interstate 5. But Thomas warned about the danger of obstructionist attorneys using CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) statutes to slow Corridor construction via unnecessary litigation.

“Adjudication takes a long time and costs a lot of money,” Thomas said. “That’s their way of trying to control the outcome.”

Bill also made some news during the summit, coming out in support of Kern County voters approving a half-cent tax measure that would mark Kern as a “self-help” county, earmarking funds for future county transportation projects. More importantly, the designation would significantly boost Kern County’s ability to secure state and federal money to carry such projects to completion.

As a staunch Republican acutely aware of Kern County voters’ pervasive anti-taxation stance, Bill told the crowd he understood initial bristling to the idea — but warned the cost of not attaining “self-help” status and losing out on federal transportation dollars to other areas made passing the tax infinitely more cost-effective for the county and its residents.

Talking through water regulations and oil production restrictions and transportation funding can seem like dry policy wonk chatter, capable of making anyone’s eyes glaze over. But at the end of the day, all of these critical conversations come back to some simple questions — how does this affect the people of Kern County and how do we make everyone’s lives better through our collective decisions?

Sonya Christian (BC), Mary Jo Pasek (BC), Karen Goh (Garden Pathways), Michael Turnipseed (Kern Tax)

It was wonderful to see the community out at the college to engage in these discussions. Events like the Vision for the Valley summit help point us toward ways of enriching the life of every single Kern County resident…and we at BC couldn’t be happier to play our part in making events like this happen.

Ramon Puga from BC. Helping with the take down

BC Faculty the very best. Reggie Williams in action.

Uncategorized October 31, 2015 1 Comment

Halloween 2015, Saturday. Watching the USC-Cal game. SC leading 24-7. Great interception and then touchdown by Adoree Jackson. Fight On!

Well, let’s talk BC now. I know I always say this and I probably sound like a broken record, but…we’ve just got the most amazing faculty here at BC.

I was reminded again of the collective brilliance our instructors bring to their classrooms and their students every day as I listened to Professor Reggie Williams’ talk on race, wealth and inheritance earlier this month at the Levan Center.

Reggie Williams

First, I was so happy to walk in to the Levan Center and see a fabulous turnout of students and community members packing the house for Reggie’s talk. Seeing all those men and women ready to dive into such a high-minded topic just reinforced for me how critical it is for BC to provide these kinds of seminars and discussions. Especially with such a high percentage of first generation students, I’m so proud BC continues to offer venues for just this type of intellectual engagement. If not here, then where? Thank you Norm Levan!

Dr. Norman Levan

But I know our community wouldn’t turn out for these events if they didn’t feel confident they’d be hearing from unquestionable experts. And you’ll find no one anywhere with a deeper reservoir of knowledge coupled with a skill for grounding heavily academic topics than Reggie.

Reggie’s talk tackled the reasons behind the overwhelming wealth gap between Black and White Americans — and the numbers are stark. After appraising the value of a family’s home, stocks and other significant assets and liabilities, U.S. Federal Reserve data shows the median white household was worth $141,900 in 2013, while the median black household was worth just $11,000.

As if those figures weren’t alarming enough, it’s an even more troubling situation when you look at recent trends, which show black household median wealth dropped a stunning 34 percent between 2010 and 2013. Meanwhile, white households saw their wealth actually rise slightly over that same period.

So, what’s going on here? I learned from Reggie, the first thing everyone needs to understand is the difference between income and wealth. While the U.S. has spent the past half-century trying by various means to address income disparity, there’s been little action in closing our nation’s wealth gap – and it can have a more devastating impact than many realize.

While a person’s income hopely grows throughout their life, wealth traditionally grows generationally, built incrementally as it’s handed down to each succeeding generation.

But Reggie asks, what happens when you factor in 246 years of slavery in America, effectively disallowing most Blacks from owning anything of significant value for generation after generation? And what happens when that period is followed by another century of sharecropping and Black Codes, upholding many severe restrictions on Black ownership or their ability to work for themselves or amass personal wealth? What happens is nothing good for African-American families trying to provide for themselves and their descendants.

It was a fascinating discussion that was only made more enjoyable by the wonderful engagement of the BC students in attendance. I can’t tell you how proud I was of the insightful questions, well-studied perspectives and eye-opening opinions our students brought to the issue. Their participation made an already stellar presentation from Reggie that much more rewarding. Thank you Jack Hernandez for planning such wonderful programs for the Levan Center.

I am so happy to be back at BC!

Does it take a village, or does it take a county? Thank you Kern County Board of Supervisors!

Bakersfield College, Student Success August 4, 2015 Comments: 4

Rich McCrow, Gustavo Enrique, Jareth Regapala, Sonya Christian, Michael Turnipseed, David Teasdale, Alfonso Noyola

This morning I attended the County of Kern Board of Supervisors meeting to wait for a very special agenda item: the awarding of $400,000 to Arvin High School for a partnership with Bakersfield College that brings college courses to Arvin and helps students in the area achieve higher education completion sooner, and in fields of study relevant to immediate employability in key industries.

Bakersfield College has been focusing on improving educational attainment levels in rural Kern and the work in the Arvin/Lamont community has been critical. With the funding from the County of Kern Board of Supervisors for the new 1+1+2=Game Changer program, Bakersfield College’s relationship with Arvin High School is expanding, and the opportunities for local students are increasing tremendously.

Much of what Bakersfield College does is guided by the Educational Master Plan, which directs the college to “explore new avenues” to educate the area’s socioeconomically disadvantaged population. Within the Educational Master Plan is the Rural Communities Initiative, which focuses on the rural communities inside Bakersfield College’s service area, and outlines specific strategies and tactics for reaching these communities with higher education information and access.

Richard McCrow, who came to Bakersfield College to oversee the operations at our campus in Delano, quickly became Bakersfield College’s lead administrator for all of our rural initiatives, designing programs and partnerships to take higher education into communities like Arvin, Lamont, Delano, Shafter, Wasco, and many more. The Rural Communities Initiative guides how Bakersfield College moves among communities where unemployment and poverty are often higher than statewide averages and educational attainment levels lower.

Rich has been expanding our offerings in the Arvin area. We already offer courses in the evenings at Arvin High School, and now the plan includes components focusing on dual enrollment and educational advising. Dual enrollment allows high school students to take courses that count simultaneously for high school and college credit, and these courses help students work toward their higher education goals.

Supervisor Leticia Perez. Source: http://blog.herofinancing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/HERO_Post_blog_a.jpg

I’m pleased that today, the County of Kern Board of Supervisors put their support behind the program by awarding Arvin High School $400,000 to make the partnership possible through more courses, a state-of-the-art interactive classroom, and technologically advanced equipment.

In brief, 1+1+2=Game Changer provides a program of study for incoming high school freshmen to take college courses at Arvin High School during the traditional school day. At the end of four years, these students will have completed their high school education and a full year of Bakersfield College classes, and will need just one more year at Bakersfield College to complete one of three educational pathways:

Transfer to California State University, Bakersfield for a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Supply Chain Logistics.
Completion of an Associate of Arts in Agriculture Business Management at Bakersfield College.
Application to the Bakersfield College Bachelor of Science in Industrial Automation degree program.

Bryon Schaefer

So many people made this program possible. I thank our partners, Kern High School District Superintendent Dr. Bryon Schaefer and Arvin High School Principal Carlos Sardo for their willingness to make differentiated educational opportunities possible. I thank the team that put together the proposal for their hard work: Rich McCrow, Delano Campus Director; Gustavo Enriquez, Student Success Program Manager at the Delano Campus; Veronica Lucas, Counselor at the Delano Campus; and Jareth Regpala, Counselor at Arvin High School. The 1+1+2=Game Changer program was supported among county administrative staff, including Assistant County Administrative Officer Teresa Hitchcock and Ricardo Del Hoyo from the office of Supervisor Leticia Perez.

The original momentum to making this happen came from Michael Turnipseed, CEO of Kern Taxpayers Association and Supervisor Leticia Perez, both not only committed to workforce development for the region but also able to take action quickly and decisively. I enjoyed the remarks made by Alfonso Noyola, City Manager for Arvin, as well as David Teasdale from Kern Community College District.

Amber Chiang

Things can happen rather fast here at Bakersfield College, and I’m glad we have a team working together who are willing to step in and take care of whatever may come up. That was the case yesterday when I received a phone call asking if BC could draft a press release. I called Amber Chiang, Bakersfield College’s public information officer, and gave her little more than three hours to talk to five different people and read a 25-page proposal in order to create a draft press release that could be distributed to news media as soon as the Board of Supervisors approved the funding. Of course, as she always does, Amber took the task on with flair and gusto, and produced a release that went out at 10:32 this morning. The release is posted on Amber’s page on the Bakersfield College website if you’d like to read it.

I look forward to telling you more about 1+1+2=Game Changer in coming blog posts. With this program, we are truly changing the game of education for current, and future, students in the Arvin and Lamont area of Kern County. We are BC!

BC Student Wins Eco-Student College Award

Uncategorized April 17, 2014 Leave a comment

Bakersfield College Ariany Cespedes wins Kern County Green Award.

Recently, Elizabeth Rodacker, English faculty, emailed me about Ariany Cespedes.

Ariany won the Kern County Green Award for her work at Bakersfield College. Ariana is a leader and role model when it comes to recycling and raising awareness about environmental issues. As the Vice President of Bakersfield College’s Go Green Club, she dedicates her time to the club by helping create flyers and videos regarding sustainability practices, and giving speeches to educate her peers about sustainability issues. She also acted as an organizer for fundraisers collecting money to provide recycling bins for the Bakersfield College campus.

Talking about Green Awards, BC has adopted sustainability as one of our Core Values. Here it is:

We recognize our responsibility for continuing and maintaining this institution which has been shaped by over 100 years of resolute and tenacious labor and judicious foresight, so we unceasingly place our energies into imagining how we might sustain and renew our fiscal, human, and environmental resources into the future.