Tag Archives: Kyle Carter

BC… Raising the Bar

Uncategorized December 22, 2019 Comments: 2

Jingle Bells. BC at BSO Dec 6 2019

Sleigh Ride BSO Dec 6 2019

Both photos snapped while walking Neo on Dec 21, 2019

Merry Christmas

Started this week’s blog with Christmas music from the BSO-BC Home for the Holidays concert. Featured below is the fun version of Twelve Days of Christmas performed by our new Mens Choir. See if you can spot some of our faculty and staff and in the video. Going left to right: Nicky Damania, Chris Glaser, Nick Strobel.

Celebrating our BC Foster Youth through the NextUp Program!

NextUp, a Foster Youth Support Program housed within EOPS, had an end-of-the-year celebration this past Tuesday.

Fun Photos: UMOJA Recognizes June Charles

June Charles being recognized by the Umoja Program. Thank you Andrea Thorson for the photos.

Fun Photos from the December KCCD Board meeting

Snapped some fun pictures at the Dec KCCD Board meeting. Was great seeing Bill Henry who was recognized by the Board for his tenure at KCCD. Also,Gary Moser and KCCD received an award from Ellucian for the innovative work we are doing statewide. Finally both Romeo Agbalog and Kyle Carter were recognized by KCSOS.

Trustee Corkins, Danielle Hillard, Bill Henry

Sandi Taylor was recognized as Manager of the Month by Manny Mourtzanos this past week. Congrats Sandi! You deserve it!

Annual Culinary and Caroling Dinner

Topping Out Party

Steve Anderson, Bill Potter, Sonya Christian

On Friday, S.C. Anderson held it’s “topping out” party for the new Campus Center building. I joined our very own Bill Potter, Tamara Baker, Zav Dadabhoy, Billie Jo Rice, Nicky Damania, and Pam Kelley, along with KCCD Project Manager Nick Hernandez to celebrate this occasion.

Kurt Hettinger of S.L. Shaw Company, Inc. sent this great explanation of the tradition:

Atop the rust-and-grey steel, a white beam sprouts a green tree from another era.
The “topping out” of a steel framed building with an evergreen tree is an ironworker tradition that originated centuries ago by Scandinavians who believed that gods lived in trees. The evergreen branch is a remnant of a time when builders thought they had to appease the gods whose trees they felled for construction.
Early Scandinavians would place the top-most branches of trees that were cut for lumber atop their completed buildings. They believed this prevented incurring the wrath of both the tree gods and the souls of men, since man’s soul was believed to originate in trees and return to them.
To live amiably among the tree gods, these early builders accompanied the topping out with festivity and ceremony, culminating with the pouring of wine at the foot of the building. With this, they thought the building and its occupants would gain good luck since no tree god would wreck vengeance on so devout a believer.
Except for the presence of alcohol on a worksite, the topping out practice remains common in the United States, where the last beam of a significant building is painted and signed by all the workers involved. Then a living tree, or at least leafy branch, is placed on the beam, often with flags and banners tied to it. S.L. Shaw, like any red-blooded company, proudly flies the stars-and-stripes on the final beam every time too.
S.L. Shaw Company is proud to continue this tradition, and is proud to have partnered with SC Anderson and Mechanical Industries for the erection of this noteworthy project.
Congratulations on a job well done!
Kurt Hettinger
S.L. Shaw Company, Inc.

I would like to thank S.L. Shaw Company, Inc. SC Anderson and Mechanical Industries for including us in this unique tradition. Specifically, thank you to project manager Bill Campe of SC Anderson, Lee Shaw and Kurt Hettinger of S.L. Shaw, Bob Varner of Ordiz Melby Architects, as well as crane operator Trent Gardener, Nestor and Jose Ramirez for all of their hard work. I cannot wait to see the finished product next December!

You can see more photos from the event on Bakersfield College’s Smug Mug or the A Better BC Facebook page.

Army vs. Navy Football Game

Paul Beckworth hosted the annual Army vs. Navy football game between the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapolis, Maryland. Check out the pictures!

Tony Cordova, Sonya Chrstian, Paul Beckworth, Steve Holmes, Tommy Tunson, Matt Garrett and Lisa Robles

This game brings out the best rivalries at our campus, and it was a joy to be a part of it! Congrats to the Navy on their well-earned win (sorry Tommy Tunson!)!

Steve Holmes playing middle man between Paul Beckworth (Nacy) and Tommy Tunson (Army)

Tony Cordova (Navy), Tommy Tunson (Army) and Paul Beckworth (Navy)

The Southern San Joaquin Valley Cal-SOAP Consortium held a Winter Training Series!

BC’s California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP) staff attended a two-day winter staff development series, which was geared towards preparation for the Cal-SOAP work with high school seniors for the spring semester. Tpoics included the Common Application by Nora Dominguez of University of LaVerne, Naviance Career Inventory by Christy Fraley of Kern High School District.

Cal-SOAP is a statewide program designed to increase the number of students attending college. The program serves students who are from low-income families, will be the first in their family to attend college, or are from areas or schools with low-eligibility or college-going rates. Cal-SOAP was established by the state legislature in 1978 and today operates in 14 locations throughout the state. Cal-SOAP is funded and administered by the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC).

Tour of the New Veterans Resource Center

If you weren’t able to join us for the Vernon Valenzuela Veterans Resource Center ribbon cutting on December 10, have no fear! Take a tour of the new facility through the camera lens!

You can also see the astounding photos that Max Becherer donated to the new VRC. They’re incredibly powerful.

To San Antonio, Christmas 1977

A beautiful Jack Hernandez poem.

PB&J During Finals Week

Thank you BCSGA for providing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during finals week.

Thank you to the Office of Student Life, BCSGA, and the Renegade Pantry.

Christmas Tree Recycling

This year, we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of our Christmas tree recycling partnership with the City of Bakersfield. Stop by the southwest parking lot on the corner of University and Haley to drop your Christmas tree off between December 25 and January 17.

If the Panorama Campus is too far to bring your tree, you can drop it off at the Kern County Fairgrounds, the Shafter/Wasco landfill, or any number of locations throughout Kern County. Stacey Shepard of the Bakersfield Californian put together a convenient list of all the Christmas tree recycling locations in our area.

If you live in the Metro Bakersfield area, you can also place Christmas trees into your green waste container as long as the tree is cut into small pieces and the container lid is able to close completely.

M&O Never Sleeps!

The Maintenance & Operations department has been busy over the winter recess making sure that our campus is beautiful for our return in January! They’ve been replacing the flooring in the FACE building west wing and CDC classrooms. Instructors in the Humanities building will have new stations when they return, and the Delano campus will have new lighting! Thank you to our entire M&O team for continually working hard to make our campuses beautiful and kept to the highest standards for our students. We appreciate you!

Measure J: Preparing for New Science & Engineering Building

Over winter break contractors are putting up the construction fence for the upcoming Measure J funded Science & Engineering building. This new three-story facility will house offices, labs and classrooms for BC’s Science & Engineering department. The 68,300 square foot building has a program value of $65 million and is scheduled to be completed in September 2021. Mark your calendars for the groundbreaking ceremony to be held on February 4th!

Fun Photos from the BC Behavioral Science Elves

BC’s Behavioral Science faculty including David Riess, David Rohac, and Jordan Rude wish all their colleagues, friends, students, and president happy holidays!

‘Tis the Season for Giving—

The CARE and CalWORKs parent programs hosted their annual holiday celebration at Rollerama last Friday, a true family friendly affair! Student accomplishments were celebrated along with their children as they skated, enjoyed a meal together, and took family pictures with Santa Claus upon receiving the children’s Christmas gifts from the “Adopt a Family” project.

All the families with a total of 130 children were adopted by our generous BC faculty, staff, and community partners. A big “THANK YOU” for purchasing dinner at our Chipotle fundraiser, providing donations and/or going out of your way to purchase presents for the children! A special acknowledgement goes to Juan Estrada who adopted 12 families!! I am beyond proud to be the President of such a giving and generous college!

Fun Photos: Holiday Gifts

Check out the decorations on the cookies from the Grimm Family Ed Foundation.

Pressed flower cookies from Grimm Family Education Foundation

Student Employee Testimonial

Ramon Carriedo says..

Going to college and having a job can be hard. Balancing work and study is not easy, especially for a full-time student like myself. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to be a student employee here at BC, which helps me stay focused on school while earning a paycheck at the same time.

Being a student employee has taught me a lot of skills that can only benefit me in the future. Plus, I get to see all the hard work done behind the scenes to keep the school successful.

In the Marketing Department, I work alongside writers, photographers, graphic designers, web content editors, and leaders. Working around all of these specialists is an amazing opportunity to gather knowledge, which is my favorite part. When I first started working here, I had no clue on how to make documents accessible or work with graphic design. With no experience covering an event, Earl Parsons walked me through the basics of how to take notes and catch a reader’s eye with my writing. He also taught me how to use a digital camera and find the best angles.

My favorite memory of working here had to be the day that I walked in and Monika Scott asked me if I would be willing to help the team present in front of all the new staff. When I asked Monika when this meeting was going to happen, she replied that it was in the next 15 minutes. I instantly started studying the slides, and I walked into the meeting room feeling extremely confident. But when it was my turn to present, everything I thought I was going to say flew right out the window. I started stuttering and I felt frozen.

After the presentation, Monika let me know that this was a great learning experience, and in the future, jobs will ask me to present on short notice. The more practice you get at it, the better you become – just one of the many lessons I’ve learned as a BC student employee.

Holidays are Going to the Dogs

So….. what should I get Neo and Bessie for Christmas? This led me to wonder how many others think about buying Christmas presents for their pets. According to the APPA (American Pet Products Association), American’s are estimated to spend $75.38 billion dollars on pets in 2019! Isn’t that incredible? They estimate that $16.44 billion of that will be spent on “Supplies/OTC Medicine.” DogTime.com had some fun holiday statistics:

· Dog owners are more likely to give their pet a gift than cat owners (but that gap is closing)
· 4 out of 10 pet owners confess to giving presents to others as if it was from their pet
· 54% of pets will have Christmas stockings this year
· 34% have a special pet-safe advent calendar
· 29% of pets will get a Christmas card from their owner (Maybe the pets enjoy having it read to them)
· 16% of owners feature their pets on their Christmas cards (TheNosePrint.com claims this is 43%)
· 3% say their pets are writing a letter to Santa Paws (he exists, you just have to believe)

TheNosePrint.com surveyed people and ranked states according to their expenditure on their pets. While the average was $23.10, California ranked 6^th with spending an average of $26.07 per dog for state residents. I’m not going to confess where I ranked for Neo this year.

Here are some fun photos of BC Employee’s dogs. If you would like your pet featured in my blog, do send a photo to Aricia Leighton or me.

Kylie Swanson’s Oscar Meyer (in a sweater Ashlea Ward bought for him)

Eric Carillo’s Froderick Diezel von Heiden (Diezel)

Wrestling take 3rd at CCCAA State Finals

This last weekend, our Renegade Wrestling team traveled to Fresno City College for the CCCAA State Finals. Led by Jonathan Hunter taking 1st in the 174 lb. weight class, the team brought back a 3rd place finals finish. Renegade placers included:

• 174 lb. – Jonathan Hunter – 1st place (State Champion and All-American)

• 184 lb. – Jordan Annis – 2nd place (All-American)

• 197 lb. – Ricardo Gonzalez – 4th place (All-American)

• 149 lb. – Adrian Gonzalez – 5th place

• 125 lb. – Keithen Estrada – 7th place (Back-to-back state placer, finished 7th in 2018)

Next Level Renegades

Congrats to three of our Renegade student athletes for committing to continue their academic and athletic careers at the next level. Holden Williams from Renegade Football, has committed to play for Portland State University. From Renegade Women’s Soccer, Ashley Quintanilla and Lissette Garcia have both committed to play at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salinas, KS. Congratulations to Holden, Ashley and Lissette!

Renegade Report

Watch this week’s edition of the Renegade Report on the Bakersfield College Athletics Facebook page featuring our Renegade Men’s Basketball team. Head Coach Rich Huges and players sat down with host Kenny Calvin to discuss their hot start to the season.

Renegade Athletics updates from this past week

• Men’s Basketball Competes at Santa Barbara Tourney:

o Game 1 loss vs. Pasadena City, 78-73

o Game 2 win over Oxnard, 85-76

o Game 3 win over Porterville, 84-61

• Wrestling Takes 3rd at CCCAA State Finals

Kern County Unites to Support Women

Uncategorized January 28, 2018 Leave a comment

Good morning from Sacramento, sipping coffee in my hotel room that has a window seat, overlooking Sacramento that is just waking up.

With the primary office of the State Chancellor’s Office in Sacramento, I find myself often on the train between Bakersfield and Sacramento. Yesterday I took the last train from Bakersfield which got into Sacramento Valley Station at 12:15 a.m. and got to my hotel close to 1:00 a.m.

In the afternoon I presented at the CCLC New Trustee Workshop along with two wonderful colleagues, Bill McGinnis (Trustee from Butte College) and Sandy Fried from the State Chancellor’s Office. The talk was well received.

I was not the only presenter from Bakersfield College. BC’s Dean of Institutional Effectiveness Dr. Craig Hayward also presented at the conference with Linda Wah, Trustee from Pasadena City College.

This past week has been active for Bakersfield College with teaching and learning and activities within the campus and within the community.

Let me start with our NEH grant invited speaker Gabriel Thompson…..

Book Talk: Gabriel Thompson

Author Gabriel Thompson

On Thursday evening, the cohort for our National Endowment of the Humanities grant invited author Gabriel Thompson to the Levan Center to talk about Fred Ross, a community organizer whose direct action techniques would inspire Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.

Thompson’s book “America’s Social Arsonist” tells the story of how Fred Ross’ experience working at the Arvin/Weedpatch farm south of Bakersfield that inspired John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” led to a career organizing voter registration drives in Latino-American neighborhoods to help those communities fight for equal representation in local and state government. Through Ross’ work as the founder of the Community Service Organization, he trained Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in his techniques that emphasized face-to-face contact and empowering marginalized groups over fundraising and awareness.

Gabriel Thompson speaks to the packed room

Ross’ technique of house-meeting organizing would become the hallmark tactic of the United Farm Workers, who organized the Coachella grape strike in the 1970s. Many of Ross’ voter registration techniques, which included driving voters to the polls and educating them on how to read and vote on a ballot, would later be successfully utilized by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008, Thompson said.

While Ross was inspired by popular leftists of the 1930s such as Woody Guthrie, Thompson emphasized that Ross favored tangible results that could hold power accountable over any particular ideology. Ross, who also fought to get Japanese-Americans out of internment camps during World War II, was a diligent organizer and a perfectionist who left no stone unturned while amplifying the voices of his women organizers, whom he found to be “diligent, natural, fearless leaders,” Thompson said.

Thompson became inspired to write about Ross while researching his book “Working in the Shadows”. He spent a year working alongside Latino immigrants in low-wage industries across the United States, and in his research he found that little was written about Ross despite the huge legacy that he left in American political activism.

Jack Hernandez speaks in the packed Levan Center

It was an honor to have Thompson talk about his work documenting an important but largely unknown footnote in Kern County’s political history, and I’m excited to see all of the stories that Oliver Rosales, Andrew Bond and Joshua Ottum are going to be surfacing during their work on this grant. So proud of our faculty. #WeAreBC

Andrew Bond and Oliver Rosales at the event along with Jack Hernandez

Thank you Manny de Los Santos for live streaming this event.

Live Stream of Gabriel Thompson Jan 25 2018

Kern County Women’s March

Last weekend marked the first Women’s March of Kern County and the second Women’s March across the nation. It was great to see our community and country come together, standing united. Our diverse community of all genders, races, ethnicity, and faiths came together.

Joseph Luiz of The Bakersfield Californian covered the event in his article, “Equal treatment, rights focus of Kern County Women’s March“

A special shout out to BC’s very own Dezi Von Manos, our Student Government President who was a speaker at the event.

I would like to give special thank you to the Bakersfield College Adult Education team who hosted a booth right in the middle of all the action to recruit and network with our community members.

There were many BC employees and students at the event…. Jennifer Achan, Lupe Aguirre, Debra Anderson, Christine Cruz-Boone, Danny Escobar, Terri Goldstein, Endee Grijalva, Lisa Robles-Kent, Anna Laven, Keston Lyman, Mia Ocean, Heather Pennella, Sally Sterns, Nick Strobel, and Andrea Thorson.

Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Heather Pennella, Sonya Christian

It was great to see Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg and Jenny Zorn, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs from CSUB, chatting during the chilly morning. Dr. Zorn was one of the speakers along with Evelyn Young from CSUB. BC’s dean of instruction Andrea Thorson was the closing speaker.

Jenny Zorn and Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg

Evelyn Young CSUB Women's March Jan 2018 2

Andrea Thorson speaking at the Women's March Jan 2018

Student Government Leadership Conference

On Monday, January 8, 2018, the three Student Governments from the colleges within the Kern Community College District participated in a Student Leadership Conference at the Porterville College campus. This leadership training and development workshop facilitated a collaborative and inclusive educational environment, which inspired the campus communities, provided valuable peer-to-peer learning experiences, and engaged students as they share and develop their leadership skills effectively within KCCD.

KCCD Student Leaders

Chief Finance Officer, Debbie Martin, and Chancellor Tom Burke both presented to the Student Governments regarding their financial planning and Chancellor’s vision for the District. Other workshops provided the student government officers the means to expand their individual and group leadership potential as well as avenues to apply those skills in a broader student advocacy within KCCD, local, and state-wide initiatives.

Spring Student Involvement Festival

At the beginning of each semester, the Office of Student Life hosts a Student Involvement Festival where BC departments and services are invited to host a booth and share their services with new students. The event helps students learn about our campus, community initiatives, and become engaged and active members of the student body.

Cynthia Garbett, DSPS Scribe Coordinator and Denise Crawford, WorkAbility III

More photos are available at BC’s Smugmug.

Strategic Directions

It was great to have so many BC faculty and staff attend the Strategic Directions Initiative Session last Friday, January 19^th. The Strategic Directions Core Team held the session to solicit initiatives for BC’s staff and faculty for the 2018-2021 Strategic Directions session.

The three-year cycle for developing, implementing and evaluating Bakersfield College’s goals and strategic plan began in 2012. With the sun setting on our Strategic Directions 2015-2018 this semester, the Strategic Direction Committee has evaluated the Directions and is looking to create new initiatives to continue for Bakersfield College’s future.

Our Strategic Directions dream team: Todd Coston (lead), Grace Commiso, Liz Rozell, Bill Moseley, Jessica Wojtysiak, Teresa Mcallister, Marcelyn Allen, Aricia Leighton, and Somaly Boles, prepared a presentation and led the participants through activities. Thank you for all of your hard work on analyzing the past initiatives and leading faculty and staff in creating new initiatives that will lead Bakersfield College in future directions.

Jessica and Teresa did an excellent job of gathering the participants into 4 groups, each group working on an initiative for one of the Strategic Directions: Student Learning, Student Progress and Completion, Facilities, and Leadership and Engagement. There were lively discussions and fabulous initiatives from the participants. There were also some camaraderie for a group of BC faculty and staff working to move Bakersfield College toward an effective direction.

The plans for our collective direction depend on the talent and expertise of our BC faculty, staff and administrators. Please take the time to suggest an initiative if you haven’t already.

Jack Hernandez

Last Sunday, Levan Center Director Jack Hernandez wrote an op-ed in the Community Voices section of the Bakersfield Californian clarifying how so-called “political correctness” is not about stifling the truth but simply offering a more sensitive interpretation of the truth through language.

While political correctness “has been criticized as forcing people to speak in ways acceptable to those on the political left,” writes Hernandez in his column, it actually helps to incorporate the feelings and experiences of marginalized groups that have historically been overlooked, who “are too often ignored, looked down upon, and described in hurtful, even hateful, terms,” said Hernandez, a professor emeritus of philosophy at BC.

“To be ‘politically correct’ is not meant to evade seeing reality as it is or not to accurately describes,” Hernandez writes. “It is not a political ideology or dictatorial censoring of language. Rather, it is an expression of our highest moral values, of our best selves.”

Ron Saylor’s Magic Show at BC

Ron Saylor, photo from ronsaylor.com

Local magician Ron Saylor has kindly donated his time to help raise money for the BC Chambers Singers’ tour to Australia this summer, with a night of magic, mentalism and illusion on Friday Feb 2nd at 7 p.m. in the Indoor Theater.

Saylor, who performs at the famed Magic Castle in Los Angeles, performed a card trick live on KGET 17 Wednesday morning to promote the fundraiser, which will help with travel expenses for the Chamber Singers’ tour, which will include a performance at the Sydney Opera House.

We’re so thankful that Ron is helping us out, and we hope to have a full house for the event. Tickets are available online now via Vallitix for $20 general admission seating and $30 for seating in the orchestra pit.

Helping our choir students sing at the Sydney Opera House

Dr. Jen Garrett approached me to help her close the final gap in the fundraising to help our BC students go to Australia to perform at the Sydney Opera House. BC’s Choral program does this once every three years. In 2015 it was at the Vatican in Rome. Then our students have spent three years fundraising for this trip in July 2018.

I approached trustee Kyle Carter to see if he could help us. He unhesitatingly said yes and opened up the Hall of Fame venue for this benefit concert. Hold on to you seats…. Lydia Ranger and Monty Byrom both generously volunteered to perform with the Chamber singers to help with this benefit concert. See flier.

I have taken responsibility for the success of the evening concert. Tickets $100 each. If you cannot make the concert, for our students’ sake, buy a few tickets anyway 🙂

What a wonderful evening it’s going to be with the combination of Lydia Ranger, Monty Byrom and our fabulous BC Choir.

Renegade Basketball and Coach Hughes

Gogades.com reports that the Bakersfield College Men’s Basketball team (9-8) finished the first half strong but El Camino College (5-11) made half time adjustments and pounded away with a relentless five man rotation to issue BC a 104-87 loss Friday night in the Gil Bishop Sports Center.

“They just continually come at us, and we couldn’t get over the hump. We had a good run in the first half, and then we’d make a mistake or turn it over and they’d capitalize,” Coach Rich Hughes said.

Henry Galinato chipped in his second straight double-double in as many games with a 14 point 14 rebound night, on seven of 10 shooting from the field.

Jamar Hammonds led all scorers with 34 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome team-wide ball control issues as the ‘Gades coughed up 30 turnovers to El Camino’s 27 (23, plus four team TOs)

“We’re kind of stumbling in (to league play), we’ve struggled a little bit, especially with the turnovers. That’s been a real problem, but I know our guys, and I think we were ready to play tonight, but stylewise, I don’t think we play well against teams like that. Some people call that an excuse, but it is one of those things; we play better with teams that are more half-court oriented, and most of the teams in league play are like that,” Hughes said.

Bakersfield plays Cerritos College (14-4) at LA Southwest College Saturday night in the Renegades’ final non-conference tilt before league play begins at home, Wednesday, January 17th at 7 pm against LA Pierce College (5-13).

Coach Aaron Chavez and Coach Rich Hughes

Grand Opening of the Kern County Justice Center

On Tuesday, January 16, 2018, Dena Rhodes, BC Human Resource Manager and Deputy Title IX Coordinator, and Dr. Nicky Damania, Director of Student Life, went to the Grand Opening of the Kern County Justice Center. The opening was attended by many individuals across the Bakersfield Community and held a tour through the newly renovated building.

A small reception was held with delicious food samples which as you can see from the pictures. The concept for the center began in San Diego in 2002. It was envisioned that a family justice center would be a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence. It seeks to be a place where representatives from various agencies are housed under one roof in order to provide services for victims of domestic violence and their children. There are more than 130 family justice centers across the nation. The KCFJC will house representatives from agencies including The Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Great-er Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Kern County D.A.’s Office, Behavioral Health, Department of Human Services, Bakersfield Police, Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Dress for Success and Aging and Adult Services.

District Attorney Lisa Green, Dena Rhoades, Nicky Damania

The BC family

One of our Chemistry faculty Dr. Deborah Rosenthal organized a Baby Shower for another faculty member Dr. Ximena Da Silva Tavares on Friday.

I am so happy that Debby pinged me so I could stop by for a few minutes. In addition to Ximena’s joy, I loved seeing all the faculty and staff hovering around her like proud family members showering her with love. Debby organized a fun game where she took time to college photos of faculty members as babies and then had us map which baby picture match which faculty member. Thank you Debby for the care in planning this event.

Liz Rozell made this quilt for Ximena

Ximena noted that being an immigrant is hard when all of your family and friend support network from home is so far away so her BC family has been so much appreciated. Having something like the baby shower shows we care about her as a person. Again it is much appreciated and then she said she couldn’t say anything more without crying.

You see why I am the luckiest and happiest college president ever…. #WeAreBC

Seen on Social Media

I loved this photo of Kirk Russell, BC’s Library Chair from their instagram bc_library.

Jim Selgrath

Chris McCraw

Cindy Collier camping and stated on Facebook “This the culprit that got me up this morning at 5:20 😩 — at Wine Country RV Resort.”

Neo

We are BC!

That’s all for now.

Until next time.

With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.

sonya —
the luckiest and happiest college president ever

(with Prof. Ximena Da Silva Tavares)

July 9 Blog

Uncategorized July 9, 2016 Comments: 2

Jack Brigham. Photo from The Bakersfield Californian website

Professor Jack Brigham passed away on Thursday at 10:11 p.m. A man who has left a deep legacy at Bakersfield College and in our community. James Burger in his article says: “Brigham’s generosity extended to his wit, spirit and time.” For more read his piece Beloved Professor Philanthropist Jack Brigham Dies http://tinyurl.com/zr643qv

Yesterday I felt the whole city was mourning. Social media was buzzing with tributes to Jack. Here are some:

Daniela Miramontes:

Your endless wisdom brought light to us all. Thank you for being our mentor at PEAK and for your endless support, we will always love and remember you, Jack Brigham.

Saw Kapi

My heart hurts as I heard early this morning that my foremost professor of history and political science passed away in California. Professor Jack Brigham is an exemplary humanist, educator and mentor. Through his actions and encouragement, he showed us how to be a good citizen of the world. He embraced me and my sisters at Bakersfield College and helped us navigate complicated US education system. He encouraged us to read and be a life-long learner. He was the one who introduced us to the works of Ernesto Che Guevara, Noam Chomsky, Edward Said and Howard Zinn. He lived his best and we will miss him dearly. Professor Jack Brigham, may your soul rest in peace.

Sandy Woo:

My heart hurts and I still don’t want to believe that last night happened, but I’m comforted in knowing that Jack is now resting in peace. I’m so grateful that God led me back here. I got to spend the last year of Jack’s life with him, and got to share that time with so many others who also held him close to their hearts. I will always think of him, especially on Sunday afternoons… I’ll miss admiring those bright roses in the garden and barging through that front door like that house was my own home.

Jack, you were more than a teacher. You were my family. You were the reason I believed I could reach for the stars. You have touched so many lives with your love for humanity. Thank you for all that you have taught me these last 13 years. I hope to make you proud. Until we meet again, dear friend…

Shawn Taro Newsom:

RIP Jack Brigham. You made me believe in myself and to reach for the stars. You were a force of nature in my life with your quiet demeanor. You will be missed my friend.

Misa Ingles:

Last night, we all lost one of the foremost philanthropists that has ever set foot on kern county soil. A man of immeasurable wisdom and a heart of gold. He was an inspiration to many, including myself.

He had a knack for finding undeveloped talent and bringing out the true potential in everyone.
He believed wholeheartedly in the importance of encouraging the youth to take control of their future. He knew how to build a better world.

He was truthful and his values unwavering.

Professor Jack Brigham
1946-2016

Tassos Frangou:

Wisdom, humility, love, integrity, catalyst for greatness, a silent leader that guided everyone to audacious self exporation in exceeding their potential…… as far as my concern Jack is alive in my heart, in my thoughts, in my contribution to humanity, in my every actions, in what I am and what I will pass to my children. I am celebrating the opportunity to know him, to guide me, and his contribution in shaping me for who I am. Thank you Jack, thank you for being there, thank you ! Till we meet again!

Oliver Rosales:

A great tribute to a wonderful man, educator, and model of social justice activism over decades…he will be missed but his work and legacy continue…!!!

Randy Beeman and I were writing back and forth about Jack and here is an excerpt from Randy:

I would cone in the office and if he is clicking the keyboard at rocket speed I knew an injustice was being righted! He’s in heaven now forming a committee on something!

Jack Brigham (2nd from left) with the BC Leadership and Equity Academy

Chains of Suffering

This week was hard for many reasons. After reading my comments about Elie Wiesel last week, Jack Hernandez txted me a quote by Wiesel that said

Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere

This week saw the devastating news from Dallas that followed public anger and sorrow over shootings, which were preceded by bombings and more in what felt like chains of suffering. There is so much suffering that concerns us all – I take solace in what we do, our community, our learning, our values of tolerance and diversity.

BC Hosts Black Caucus Annual Leadership Conference

I discovered this draft blog post from earlier in the spring term and felt it was the right time to include it in today’s blog.

Dating back to 1976, every U.S president has designated February as Black History Month to celebrate the achievements of black Americans and recognize the central role of African Americans in U.S history.

Sonya Christian, Clayton Fowler

Prior to that, dating back to 1926, this recognition was celebrated only during the second week of February, during the birthday week of both Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. This “Negro History Week” event gave schools and communities an inspiration to organize local celebrations. But in 1976, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized and lengthened the commemoration to Black History Month, calling on all Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout history.”

On February 19th, Bakersfield College was honored to become the first community college to host the Black Caucus Annual Leadership Conference with a massive event that sprawled across the entire campus. From the Simonsen Performing Arts Center to the cafeteria to the Fireside Room to spaces in the Math/Science and Language Arts buildings, attendees to the three-day conference converged on BC to take in scores of speeches, seminars and training sessions.

Students from throughout the state convened at the 15th annual convention to discuss local issues, share best practices, and take action locally, regionally and nationally.

The Black Caucus of the California Community Colleges began in 1998 as an affiliated Caucus of the then California Student Association of Community Colleges (CalSACC). Since then, the Black Caucus has worked to build coalitions and alliances for the purpose of leadership, advocacy and equity with other student leaders and organizations.

This conference and the Black Caucus organization were great additions to Bakersfield College and thanks to BC’s own Fitzgerald Graves for helping to pave the way to bring such an amazing event to our campus.

Meeting with the VFW

On Wednesday, I gave a presentation with Paul Beckworth and Jenny Frank to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #97 about “A Better BC,” which highlights our plans to improve our facilities for the future with a potential November 8th ballot measure.

I read up about the VFW, a very prestigious organization and here is an excerpt from their website http://www.vfw.org/:

The VFW traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service: Many arrived home wounded or sick. There was no medical care or veterans’ pension for them, and they were left to care for themselves.

In their misery, some of these veterans banded together and formed organizations with what would become known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. After chapters were formed in Ohio, Colorado and Pennsylvania, the movement quickly gained momentum. By 1915, membership grew to 5,000; by 1936, membership was almost 200,000.

Since then, the VFW’s voice had been instrumental in establishing the Veterans Administration, creating a GI Bill for the 20th century, the development of the national cemetery system and the fight for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome. In 2008, VFW won a long-fought victory with the passing of a GI Bill for the 21st Century, giving expanded educational benefits to America’s active-duty service members, and members of the Guard and Reserves, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VFW also has fought for improving VA medical centers services for women veterans.

Besides helping fund the creation of the Vietnam, Korean War, World War II and Women in Military Service memorials, the VFW in 2005 became the first veterans’ organization to contribute to building the new Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial, which opened in November 2010.

Annually, the nearly 1.7 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliaries contribute more than 8.6 million hours of volunteerism in the community, including participation in Make A Difference Day and National Volunteer Week.

From providing over $3 million in college scholarships and savings bonds to students every year, to encouraging elevation of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the president’s cabinet, the VFW is there.

We were honored to meet the California VFW State Commander, Dale Smith, who happened to be on the grounds at the time.

District Commander, Deb Johnson, who is also the President/CEO of the California Veterans Assistance Foundation, invited us to repeat our presentation on August 27 at their district wide meeting, which consists of thirteen different VFWs in the area. Jenny did a great job as our community lead and took the reins when the time came.

Good job team!

AG Ventures Camp

For the past 3 years, Bakersfield College has partnered with Wonderful Education and put on our “Ag Ventures Camps.”

Photo: http://www.substancenews.et

Talking about Wonderful, here is a shout out to Noemi Donoso a great leader who believes in the transformational power of education and is in charge of the Wonderful Academy.

Also a shout out to the fabulous Lynda Resnick who has the heart for communities like Delano and Lost Hills. Check out a piece I did on the work of Lynda in my May 21, 2016 blog at https://bcpresidentblog.com/2016/05/21/so-much-diversity-and-we-are-bc/

The purpose of the Ag Ventures Camps is to paint a vivid and complete picture of agriculture for young students (8th graders) in the Wasco and Delano areas. Although many of the students’ parents may be involved in agriculture, ofttimes they are active in the crucial and challenging areas of the industry that bring the product to market (field work, product sorting…), and exposure to just this experience can paint a limited picture of the opportunities available in agriculture.

Ag Ventures provides a hands-on, active curriculum that focuses on careers in our industry that require the additional education of a certificate, 2-year or 4-year degree (water engineering, product fabrication, new product development, marketing…).

This is accomplished in a 6 days and 5 nights fast-paced, energetic “camp like” environment that the students love. The camp culminates with a Friday evening, family dinner presentation where they demonstrate what they have engaged in during their week in camp experience. Thank you Rich McCrow and entire Rural Kern Team as well as Chris McCraw and the Ag faculty for putting in countless hours to make this happen.

Check out this 7-minute video by Manny De Los Santos

Celebrating our neighbor Shafter

There was a recent article in The Californian by Pete Tittl about a little downtown restaurant in our neighboring city of Shafter which caught my attention. A triple-decker enchilada Shafter has been keeping to itself, until now.

Wait a second… A triple-decker enchilada? I knew I had to read the whole article.

El Michoacano, located in downtown Shafter is described by Tittl as what you’d expect when you see the description of a “little hole in the wall restaurant,” but raves that the food is absolutely delicious.

Scot Hurlbert Sonya Christian July 5 2016

Sonya Christian, Scot Hurlbert

Well, I got to try the street tacos at El Michoacano this Tuesday along with Scot Hurlbert, Shafter City Manager, David Franz, Director of the Learning Center, and Rich McCrow, Director of the BC Delano Campus. The food was awesome and the conversation was so engaging that I was terribly late for my next meeting.

The folks in Shafter have a big vision and they pursue that vision in a collaborative manner and put in the resources necessary to make that vision happen. What’s not to like about that? It got me thinking about our neighboring city and all that has happened there over the past few years.

In 2013, the city of Shafter celebrated 100 years with their centennial anniversary. This exciting milestone brought renovations and projects to beautify the city, which is described on the city website as “plans to honor the city’s heritage while embracing its future.”

The city continues to grow in population and size.

Photo credit: http://www.desertartstudio.com/Murals/Shafter2013/shafter2013.html

Ask almost anyone who lives in Shafter, and I bet they will tell you they love it because there’s little to no traffic, but Shafter is home to many amazing things – Paramount Logistics Park (PLP) (formerly known as the International Trade and Transportation Center (ITTC)) was built to facilitate Central Valley access to ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway.

And then there’s Minter Field, which began operations in 1941 and saw heavy use during World War II. It’s incredible how much history is in the area.

In the last two years, Bakersfield College has been working closely with David Franz and the High School to expand college courses in Shafter. I suspect that we are going to be doing way more in the future.

Bakersfield Chamber Government Review Committee:

Friday, July 8th, at 7:30 a.m., Tom Burke, CFO of KCCD, and I presented to the Chamber Government Relations Committee (GRC) about the potential bond measure being considered by the KCCD Board of Trustees for the November 8th ballot.

Tom Burke, Jeff Green, Kyle Carter, Sonya Christian, Bill Thomas, Jennifer Pritcher, Gene Tackett, Harvey Hall

The presentation was well received and GRC members unanimously voted to recommend endorsement of the bond to the Greater Bakersfield Chamber Board. This was great news and Tom and I were absolutely elated. What was particularly enjoyable was the conversation. Let me start by saying that Mayor Harvey Hall, Chair of the BC Bond Blue Ribbon Committee, took the time out of his crazy busy schedule to be there. Just his presence in the audience set the tone for the conversation. Then, Congressman Bill Thomas, Senior Advisor to the BC Bond Blue Ribbon Committee spontaneously addressed the GRC as well as responding during Q&A.

It was wonderful seeing our community so engaged and the stories they brought up from the past. I was just sitting back and enjoying the leadership of Bakersfield at its very best. Leadership that has been with us with the likes of Gene Tackett, Peter Pankey, Michael Turnipseed, John Mcquiston etc. Jennifer Pitcher, Chair of GRC did a masterful job managing this group of, at times rowdy individuals 🙂 I guess, when you get Tackett, Pankey, and Thomas in a room, the discussions are quite vibrant 🙂 I was happy to see Trustee Kyle Carter at the meeting. Also, thank you Nick Ortiz for your leadership as the CEO of the Chamber.

Coming Soon: New Student IDs

It’s such a delight to see college employees engaged and excited about the work we do at BC. Thursday afternoon was no different as 20 or more employees from Bakersfield College and the other district colleges, Porterville and Cerro Coso, gathered to learn about the new Student ID printing process.

It has been almost 2 years since our student ID’s have had actual student photos on them, so I know these new cards will be anticipated by all.

Jimmy, the technician we had on campus, demonstrated all kinds of useful things, such as how to use the printer, loading the ID cards, and even a trick for when you have to print a large volume of cards.

We’re not ready to start printing just yet, but I look forward to seeing all our eager students picking up their IDs in the Welcome Center within a few short weeks.

Wrapping up…..

I did not actually feel too well this week but have finally turned the corner. This week was intense with work. However, I was able to check out the music performance Thursday evening by the Fountain at the Market Place. This is my first time at this event this season. Usually the Summer Music at the Fountain has been a regular activity for me.

Also, I through I would sign off by mentioning two movies — The Jungle Book and The Legend of Tarzan. Although both movies did not get rave reviews, I enjoyed them very much. But for that matter, I am told it is just part of my personality — enjoying everything that is. Never sure if it is a compliment or not…….

Growing up I read a lot of comics and the four of us children had a library that was filled with comic books with about 10 bound together so that it would not get tattered. Tarzan, the King of the Jungle, along with Phantom, the ghost who walks, were some of my all time favorites. Of course when the animated Tarzan came out in 1999, I think I watched it on opening night. I loved the soundtrack of that movie with Phil Collins doing two beautiful pieces. Check out this love song You’ll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins.

The other movie Jungle Book came out in 1967 capturing Rudyard Kipling’s characters in all their glory. I have lost track of how many times I have watched the movie. And although this year’s release did not stack up against the original, I still enjoyed it very much. I wish they had included the songs in it. In any event, here is my favorite Jungle Book song on youtube which I watch when I am feeling low and Balu, the bear, always cheers me up. Not only is the video so much fun (it is a must see), but there is definitely some wisdom in the lyrics. How about this:

‘Cause let me tell you something little britches

If you act like that bee acts, uh uh

You’re working too hard

And don’t spend your time lookin’ around

For something you want that can’t be found

When you find out you can live without it

And go along not thinkin’ about it

I’ll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you

And, btw, good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, July 9th. A wonderful day to be a Renegade.

That’s all for now.

Until next Saturday.

With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.

sonya ….. from the Firestone at 7:00 a.m. Friday morning, assuring a friend that I would do a good job at the GRC presentation and there was nothing to worry.

and of course, the luckiest and happiest college president in the whole world

Closing out the 2015-2016 academic year

Uncategorized May 14, 2016 Comments: 2

Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, May 14, 2016….A good a day to be a Renegade!

Clayton Fowler, Sonya Christian

The academic year ended on a high note yesterday with BC’s 102nd commencement. Here is Jose Gaspar‘s coverage on channel 29 http://tinyurl.com/jkoqknv. A very nice piece. Thank you Jose! Also The Bakersfield Californian featured photos by John Hart, of the class of 2016 on the front page. Thank you TBC!

Here is the photo that Clayton Fowler tweeted “One last president selfie before graduation @sonyachristian.”

We had Trustees Romeo Agbalog and Kyle Carter at the ceremony. Thank you trustees for celebrating this great moment with the college. It is always a treat to have you with us.

Kyle Carter and Romeo Agbalog May 13 2016

Kyle Carter, Romeo Agbalog

Here is an email exchange between a student and her faculty. This, my dear community, is what BC is all about. It is not a myth. BC faculty and staff are SO very committed to our students. I love the line from Betty Wandick to her professor Pat Smith “….but you live in all of us.”

From: Betty Wandick <betty.wandick1961@email.bakersfieldcollege.edu>
Date: May 13, 2016 at 11:13:05 PM PDT
To: Patricia Smith <patsmith@bakersfieldcollege.edu>
Subject: Re: Appreciation

Yes, but you live in all of us; therefore, it was good seeing you tonight.

On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 1:17 PM, Patricia Smith <patsmith@bakersfieldcollege.edu> wrote:

Well thank you so very much!
I wasn’t able to attend that graduation due to finals and grading. I will be there tonight…are you graduating tonight? I wish you the very best in all that you do. You were a wonderful student!

> On May 13, 2016, at 12:51 PM, Betty Wandick <betty.wandick1961@email.bakersfieldcollege.edu> wrote:

Hello Professor Smith, I want to thank you for being my instructor throughout the years. I want you to know that I gave your name at the Black Graduates Graduation because I think you are a AWESOME instructor, and I appreciate you. Thank you for everything, Betty James.

Class of 2016, congratulations! I might do a more in-depth with photos of commencement in a later blog. Until then, here is the team doing our pre-final walk through the day before commencement. They put in countless hours with attention to a lot of detail to pull off a grand commencement celebration for our students with fireworks and all. BC Team Awesome!

Here is a drone photo by Manny De Los Santos. Super cool!

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0022.JPG

Garden Pathways

It was wonderful attending the Garden Pathways High Tea at Seven Oaks. The place was packed with our community who had come out to support the winners of this years “Women with a heart for Bakersfield.”

Clockwise from top-left: Cynthia Icardo, Norma Rojas-Mora, Tracy Walker, Danielle Wade

These four women are truly remarkable in volunteering their time out of their busy lives to support the community. All of them were eloquent in their remarks and very inspirational. Norma Rojas-Mora spoke about “opportunity” and that “often those opportunities are the difference between living life in the shadows or living one filled with recognition.” It struck me that one of the greatest gifts we can give one another is the gift of opportunity. Here are excerpts from her remarks at Garden Pathways:

I have been blessed with a life filled with opportunity…the opportunity to grow up in a loving family, the opportunity to study at a top university, the opportunity to choose the job I wanted and the ability to make a career out of it. I share this with you because I also recognized early on that not everyone has opportunities, and often those opportunities are the difference between living a life in the shadows or living one filled with recognition.

Eighteen years ago a gentleman by the name of Bill Carter gave me the opportunity to work at an agency that was in transition, it was only my second job out of college and at that time I told him I was only interested in being with the Housing Authority for three years.

Little did I know that I would find my passion and build a career-I truly believe in our mission of providing safe decent and affordable housing to low income residents of this community and to assist them in becoming self sufficient and moving on to homeownership. We have so many families that are living in the shadows-but being able to develop programs that provide them with opportunities makes all the difference in the world. Seeing a family increase their earnings, seeing a child be the first in their families to graduate from high school and go on to college, seeing families purchase their first home and knowing that we played a part in it has been the most important thing.

….

There are over 20,000 people on the Housing Authority’s wait list for affordable housing -we need to be creative to assist families in increasing their earnings so they can move out of subsidized housing so we are able make room for another family. Five years ago we established a nonprofit Foundation that allows to do even more to create opportunities for our families-I want to say Thank you to the Housing and Opportunity Foundation’s Board of Directors who are here for joining us on this journey of empowering families to become self sufficient. Thank you for rolling up your sleeves and getting in the trenches with us.

My parents and siblings sacrificed a lot to give me opportunities and I am grateful to be able to say thank you-Mom, gracias por tu eterno apoyo!

…..

I leave you with this, get involved, even one small action can impact a person’s life. Our community has so many needs, know that YOU can make a difference. Find what you are passionate about and do your part to make an impact. I Challenge each of you to find your interest and go out and do something about it-our community needs us and we can all play a big part in making Bakersfield great.

Cathy Ferguson, Sonya Christian

Sonya Christian, Cynthia Icardo

Mayor Harvey Hall

Mayor Hall was there supporting our community as usual and presented the awards to the fabulous four women. I have been in awe of Mayor Harvey Hall ever since I was a faculty member at BC. His generosity in supporting our Allied Health programs has been amazing. He told the story of how he deliberately picks his suit when going out to high schools so that the colors match the school colors. What fun!

Cindy Pollard introduced me to Cathy Ferguson, Executive Director of the Girl Scouts. BC has a great collaborative relationship with Boy Scouts and now we have the opportunity to partner with Girl Scouts. Yes!

Sonya Christian, Mary Jo Pasek, Karen Goh, Deanna Blaise

Bakersfield College was present at the event in full force. Thank you Karen Goh for the amazing work that Garden Pathways does to support our most vulnerable populations and thank you for your support of Bakersfield College.

What a great team.

Hare you met Michael Bowers yet? If not, you are missing out on life. Michael, with Steven Watkin, is heading up a group that is partnering with Bakersfield College to position the campus for the next 50 years. 2016..2066. Envisioning an even “better BC.” Here is the team that he put together–super smart, super cool, super focused, and on the move

Kalisha Hudgins, Tomeka Powell, Keith Wolaridge, Sonya Christian, Steve Watkin, Dee Slade, Danny Morrison, Michael Bowers

Empowering Women summit by CA Latina Leaders

Last Saturday, May 7th, I attended the Empowering Women summit hosted by the CA Latina Leaders at the Double Tree. I enjoyed hanging out with a BC group of students and listening to wonderful speakers – Assembly member Rudy Salas and Aera CEO Christina Sistrunk. As you can see from the pictures, I did not have the best seat for getting good photos of the speakers!

Christina Sistrunk

Rudy Salas

Janet Tarjan, Patrice Morrow, Sonya Christian, Tarin Hansen, Rebekah Kubli, Epi Mendoza, Nicki Damania

Janet Tarjan, math faculty, and Nicky Damania, director of student life attended the event. with a group of amazing BC students. Patrice Morrow moved to Bakersfield from Bellflower at age 10 with her family. She will be starting Nursing at BC in the fall. Rebekah Kubli is a kinesiology major at BC. Epi Mendoza is the daughter of two parents from Niyarit, Mexico. Either her great-grandmother or grandma (I’m not sure which) lived to be 117.:-) Tarin Hansen is working on her prerequisite classes for nursing. It was just a fun relaxed time. We are…BC!

Helmet Club at the Stiers house:

Later that afternoon on May 7th, I headed out to the Helmet Club event at Mike and Cathy Stiers next to the Bakersfield Country Club.

I did not stay for dinner but enjoyed meeting several new friends of BC and friends of Renegade Football.

Sonya Christian, Ed Davis

Karen Goh, Francis Mayer, Sonya Christian

Jeff Chudy, Sonya Christian

Ed Davis is the President of the Helmet Club and a great supporter of BC. Coach Chudy, Coach Bolton and Coach Dean were all at the event with their families. It was great seeing Karen Goh at the event supporting BC. She has been to several football games this last season. Thank you Karen! Also, many of these community members supported our student, Terrence Young, when he was seriously injured in the fall.

Track and Field State Meet:

Janet Tarjan and I headed out today, after our exercise class this morning, to the Track & Field State meet at Antelope Valley College. It was wonderful seeing Coach Pam Kelley and our Renegade Athletes in action.

Janet Tarjan and her student Marilyn

Marilyn Quintero

Sonya Christian, Janet Tarjan

Many of the athletes advanced to the state level. Kyra Saunders in long jump, Tyra Saunders in the 100 meters with a new school record, Marilyn Quintero in Discus, Jacob Bookout in high jump and Dillen Littles in both shot put and discus.

End of Year Potluck:

At the end of every academic year I traditionally have an end-of-year potluck in my back yard for the committee leadership on our campus. This year the planning team included Krista Moreland, Janet Thomas and Tracy Hall and they organized an incredible evening gathering on May 10th at my place. They did an entire Havana theme with dominoes, Cuban music and even Cuban food items. Jennifer Johnson’s Cuban sandwiches were to die for. It was such a fun and relaxing evening and I wish I had taken more pictures. Janet Thomas’ center pieces for the tables stole the show.

Tracy Hall, Jennifer Marden, Sonya Christian, Somaly Boles

Mark Staller, Krista Moreland

Back Yard

Center Piece by Janet Thomas

Tracy Krista Jennifer Dave

Kimberly Bligh, Sonya Christian, Kimberly Nickell

Welcome back home Dennis Spencer. BC came to a standstill without you.

Kern County Probation Volunteer Luncheon
We are so proud of our BC Human Services student interns, Abigail Gonzales and Yasmin Chavez, who were nominees for Volunteer of the Year at the Kern County Probation Volunteer Luncheon.

While they didn’t receive that award, they were honored when Mayor Harvey Hall presented them with certificates in recognition of their hard work. It is so nice to see our students give back to the community, and it is just wonderful when their efforts are so appreciated. Thanks again to the mayor for giving our student interns such a great day.

It is a good time to be at BC!

We are BC!

Uncategorized May 7, 2016 Leave a comment

Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, May 7, 2016…..A good day to be a Renegade.

Woke up to a front-page article in The Bakersfield Californian about our veterans–Korean War veteran Art Gentry in a conversation with Kevin McCarthy at Bakersfield College. Check out the story at http://tinyurl.com/zlykmbw. Mary Jo Pasek, thank you for pulling this event together. Thank you Kristen Rabe and Manny De Los Santos.

Dadabhoy McCarthy Beckworth Gentry May 6 2016

Kevin McCarthy Sonya Christian Art Gentry May 6 2016

Well, we are now one week away from graduation. a time of so many celebrations on campus–Honors Program, Latino Celebration, Black Graduates Celebration, Veterans Celebration….During this time our days at BC start at the crack of dawn and end rather late. This last week during many of the activities though I found a deep quiet and stillness within me as I was immersed and present in all the fast movement. It is a good time to be at BC!

Let me start this weekend blog with the Delano Prayer breakfast on Thursday, May 5th, at 6:30 a.m. I was invited to speak at this event and the task turned out to be quite daunting; trying to figure out what I should speak on. The days and nights leading up to the prayer breakfast had me exploring various framing ideas and finally settled on what gives life meaning. Is life the pursuit of meaning (Frankl)? Or is life the pursuit of happiness? There is a wonderful piece in The Atlantic Monthly, Jan 9, 2013 titled There is more to Life than being Happy (http://tinyurl.com/asf7lke) that keys off Frankl’s work in 1946 titled Man’s Search for Meaning. So, I finally settled on the theme of my talk to be the “pursuit of meaning” rather than the “pursuit of happiness”. Although I must say that having my peanut butter and jelly sandwich with coffee every morning is sheer happiness. And I am amazed how much I enjoy my breakfast each morning as if I am having it for the first time.

Caesar Chavez HS Choir

Gustavo Enrique, Romeo Agbalog, WECOMM Students

Here are a few excerpts from my talk. You can find the full version at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/president/delano-prayer-breakfast.

…..

We, in this room, may be of different faiths, but we have a common belief that “whatsoever you do unto the least of my brethren you do unto me”. Does the “least of my “brethren” have the same opportunity for success as the rest?

So you see, in the educational realm, there is much to be done. Do we have the ability to “see” each and every student, In the movie Avatar we are introduced to the Na’vi concept of “To see” – I see you is to open the mind and heart to the present and embrace it as if encountering it for the first time with all of your senses. Did you love the scene with Neytiri and Jake when he tells her “I see you?” So, do we see each of our students and understand their circumstances and respond… respond quickly. No waiting…. Waiting to respond is to be lulled by the status quo. Martin Luther King in 1963 in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” wrote:

For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” …… This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

…..

The best way I can describe my dad is that he was always “true to the other.”

I suspect we all share the experience of having struggled with being honest with the other – a family member, a friend or a co-worker. Do I share what I know, what I think or feel, do I risk causing hurt – or do I not? Do I decide on my own that an issue is not someone’s concern, so withhold information, keep others from having a vote?

My father was as wise as he was kind. He helped me understand that this sort of turmoil is a waste of energy; and it is at its core a kind of self-protective instinct. Not that self-protection is bad – it’s essential – but approaching life primarily from a defensive stance is limiting. Rather, the question is how each of us cultivate a sense of being “true to the other” so that the focus is on “the other” rather than self…..An “I see you” approach.

As I’ve grown older, I have come to understand my father’s uncanny ability of being “true to the other”. He was not a man who spoke much, not one for dissecting feelings or getting entangled in the dramas of the community or extended family. Remember, I grew up in a catholic family in a small coastal community at the southern tip of India where everyone was in everyone else’s business. My dad was very much part of this community very present, staying true to family, loved ones, colleagues and the community and yet with a mysterious ability to not be caught up with the dramas that ensue from a close community. I have started to understand the essence of his attitude in three principles: Know yourself; Keep it simple; See the other. He epitomized the sentiment expressed in a W.H. Auden couplet that a friend introduced me to:

If equal affection cannot be
Let the more loving one be me

Thank you Janet Rabanal, President of the Delano Chamber, for hosting such a wonderful event. Also, I was touched when you took the time to quietly bring me a plate of eggs with delicious potatoes after my talk. I was so happy to see Trustee Romeo Agbalog at the event. He is such an advocate for education and an advocate for the Delano community.

I was so proud to see Rich McCrow, Gustavo Enriquez and our WECOMM students share diversity and acceptance as a central theme to service. As we prayed for people of different communities and career types, such as educators, social justice workers, public service men and woman, and even inmates, our WECOMM students shared statistical data and the idea that together, we are one humankind community.

Jacqueline Lomba, Kaitlyn Raybuck

Talking about community, I was especially touched by witnessing kindness, love, and our ability to quickly respond when tragedy recently hit one of our BC students. Kaitlyn Raybuck is a bright and successful young woman who suddenly lost her mother at the tender age of 42. Kaitlyn’s mom, Jacqueline Lomba, was a veteran who served our country, and she was also a great example of selfless love and service to others, taking in two foster sisters when they were homeless high school students. The picture here is of mother and daughter at Kaitlyn’s senior year of high school.

I was made aware of the situation by Joyce Kirst, one of our Academic Development faculty, who in partnering with Paul Beckworth, our lead faculty for Veterans Affairs, rallied around this wonderful young woman during a time of great need. Paul’s compassion and knowledge has made a positive difference for Kaitlyn’s family. This story, even though terribly tragic, gives me a great sense of hope and inspiration that our BC family is on the right path of ministry for our students. To Paul and Joyce, thank you for being the good in our community and for being true to our students. And Kaitlyn, you inspire me. All through my drive back from Tehachapi, your words, your face and your voice, delivering the eulogy played in my mind over and over again. Your mom is proud of you.

Here is Kaitlyn’s email to Joyce:

Date: April 30, 2016, 12:37:56 AM PDT
To: Joyce Kirst <jkirst@bakersfieldcollege.edu>
Subject: I am grateful

Joyce,

I am at a loss of words over the overwhelming love and support I have received from not only you, but the students and numerous staff on campus. The cards are beside my bed and they give me such great comfort right now. I have cried so much this past week, and it all seems so surreal. I am grateful to have wonderful people like you in my life.

My mother’s funeral will be this Tuesday at 10 am. I am delivering her eulogy and the Navy will honor her at the Bakersfield National Cemetary. I am so thankful you put me in touch with Professor Beckworth, and because of your help my mother will be honored and it will be of no expense to my family. The funeral costs will also be reimbursed, and I have made myself an appointment with Veteran’s Services to discuss benefits for my siblings so that they can have tuition free college and perhaps some sort of trust so that they can be taken care of until they are eighteen.

Again, words cannot express how thankful I am for all that you have done for me. I will see you Monday.

Kaitlyn

Wheels Downtown

On Saturday, April 30^th a group from BC joined student leader Enrique Martinez for Wheels Downtown—a ‘walk’ through the downtown area of Bakersfield to point out some of the access issues faced by people with disabilities. The event was sponsored by Martinez’ new Independence Foundation.

“We want to participate in activities downtown and frequent businesses, but the lack of curb cuts and pot holes can be prohibitive,” said Martinez.

Attending the gathering was Christopher Gerry from the City Manager’s Office. who spent time talking with participants and noting the access issues brought up. Also attending the walk were a numberof Bakersfield mayoral candidates. The walk ended at a new downtown establishment, Centro 18, for tacos and conversations.

Representatives from the BC DISC Club (Disabilities Inspire and Support Change), who just won the Renegade Spirit Award also turned out.

It was wonderful to see Karen Goh, CEO of Garden Pathways, supporting individuals with disabilities and the BC DISC Club. Karen you are a great partner of education!

BC currently serves over 1,000 students with any kind of learning, mental health or physical disability. In addition to providing classroom accommodations, we offer job preparation support and specialized classes for our students with disabilities at Bakersfield College. The main office is located in the Counseling Center to get more information or to sign up for services.

A wonderful evening of music

On Wednesday, May 4th, BC’Performing Arts program showcased all of our music programs starting with our award winning Drumline in the gym followed by an evening of incredible music filling the outdoor theater. The Chair of the Performing Arts program Dr. John Gerhold emceed the event and it was clear that he was so proud of the faculty conductors, the support staff and the students.

Jorge Santos, Sonya Christian

Kris Tiner and the fabulous BC Jazz Ensemble kicked off the evening with an early Miles Davis piece, 1940’s vintage. Jorge Santos later played a solo that captured the essence of Miles Davis, but with his own style. Jorge is one of our Applied Music majors who will be transferring to CSUB in the fall. Jorge later connected with me and I enjoyed hearing his story. BC students rock!

First time ever, the BC Choir and the BC Jazz Ensemble cooperated on a rousing version of Sing, Sing, Sing. All of the women from both the Choir and Chamber singers joined for a moving version of Music Down in My Soul. Regina Shelton, our talented pianist and accompanist was featured.

The men from both the Choir and the Chamber singers brought a bit of humor to the concert with, Please Mr. Columbus. The song gave us a behind-the-scenes view of what Columbus’ crew members were thinking on their long voyage to the new world. And Jen Garret was absolutely fabulous.

The combined vocal groups filled the stage. Their last piece featured percussion instruments in an African piece that Translates to All Creatures of Our God and King.

The Concert Band, under the direction of Tim Heasley, showed their versatility by playing two pieces a world apart, Bolero and Officer Krumpke from Westside Story. Both highly entertaining in their own way. The Orchestra followed, with Lisa Buringrud conducting, the piece from Porgy and Bess. Last performance of the evening was a folk piece, Cindy.

May 11th is California Community College Music Instructors Day. Take a moment next week to tell our fabulous music faculty how much you appreciate their talent and their dedication to our music students.

BC Athletics:

BC Athletics has had yet another stellar year with 15 of 19 programs advancing to post-season play. Baseball, Track, Swimming and Beach Volleyball continue to represent in post-season play this week.

CCCAA Regional Round 1, #9 seeded BC Baseball took game one of a three games series from #8 seeded Long Beach City College 5-2 on Friday afternoon. Hudson Hartley had a dominating performance in a complete game effort. First pitch of game two is 11:00am today. If necessary game three will start at 3:00pm.

BC Track & Field sends 25 participants to the CCCAA Southern California Prelims at Antelope Valley College today, the top 12 out of 27 in each event qualifying for the Finals to be held next weekend.

BC Swimming has three athletes still competing in the CCCAA State Championships today. Erik Wood, Sara Klang and Brianna Smith each will swim one more event this morning with finals this afternoon.

Beach Volleyball #1 pairs team Sara Aurin and Alyssa Mathews advanced to the CCCAA State Championships at Grossmont College today. BC’s Beach team completed their season at the Regional event this past week.

Latino graduates celebration:

I started my Thursday morning in Delano at the Prayer Breakfast and ended it with BC’s Latino graduates celebration. This year the event was organized by Victor Diaz and team under the guidance of Corny Rodriguez. Dolores Huerta was the keynote speaker and her energetic and passionate speech, I am sure, has created a lasting memory for our students. It was wonderful seeing our faculty and students just beaming at this event. Thank you Trustee Kyle Carter for attending this event.

Corny Rodriguez, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Sonya Christian, Kyle Carter

Current Renegade graduate and a little future Renegade

Tamika Payne, her daughter, Sonya Christian

Milt and Betty Younger honored:

The very same evening of the Latino celebration, Milt and Betty Younger were the 2016 Hillel Award recipients. BC had a full table with Exec VP Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg at the event to support the Youngers who are good friends of the College. Do check out my Sep 12, 2014 posting on Betty’s sculpture Circle of Friends that was installed on our campus. This sculpture honors Jim Young, Chancellor Emeritus of KCCD and an advocate for education. http://tinyurl.com/zbq8k28.

Physics Olympics

On April 29, we invited students from over a dozen high schools in Kern County to compete in the annual Physics Olympics. Teams competed in events that required both skills and knowledge in theoretical and experimental physics and engineering.

This wonderful event promotes interest in the fields of physics and engineering, with 18 different events held throughout our campus. Many thanks to the Kern High School District for sponsoring this great event for our local high school students!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Nurse’s Week

This past week was Nurse’s Week. Our nursing faculty & staff set up a table outside the skills lab with treats and snacks for our students. Our faculty also put together some amazing door prizes. Thank you also to partners in the community that donated prizes: Dignity Hospital, San Joaquin Hospital, HealthSouth, Central Valley Office Supply, Pepsi and the Bakersfield Condors.

I received an email from Cindy Collier, our Dean of Nursing and Allied Health, thanking everyone for their donations. She said, “This is how you build a community!”

This is just another great example of the community we share – not just among our BC faculty and staff, but throughout Bakersfield.

And speaking of our fantastic Nursing department, Carla Gard, our Associate Dean/Director of Nursing Programs, let me know that our average annual pass rate for the NCSBN has increased to 91.27%. Our first time test takers had a 94.5% pass rate.

I am so proud of our students and their hard work – they truly will make Kern County a healthier place!

Wow…. it is already 3:40 p.m. I have had commitments today that has made it impossible to make progress on my blog. It is time now to get this blog published. Until next time then…..

Sonya Christian's Blog

Tag Archives: Kyle Carter

BC… Raising the Bar

Merry Christmas

Celebrating our BC Foster Youth through the NextUp Program!

Fun Photos: UMOJA Recognizes June Charles

Fun Photos from the December KCCD Board meeting

Annual Culinary and Caroling Dinner

Topping Out Party

Army vs. Navy Football Game

The Southern San Joaquin Valley Cal-SOAP Consortium held a Winter Training Series!

Tour of the New Veterans Resource Center

To San Antonio, Christmas 1977

PB&J During Finals Week

Christmas Tree Recycling

M&O Never Sleeps!

Measure J: Preparing for New Science & Engineering Building

Fun Photos from the BC Behavioral Science Elves

‘Tis the Season for Giving—

Fun Photos: Holiday Gifts

Student Employee Testimonial

Holidays are Going to the Dogs

Wrestling take 3rd at CCCAA State Finals

Next Level Renegades

Renegade Report

Renegade Athletics updates from this past week

Kern County Unites to Support Women

Book Talk: Gabriel Thompson

Kern County Women’s March

Student Government Leadership Conference

Spring Student Involvement Festival

Strategic Directions

Jack Hernandez

Ron Saylor’s Magic Show at BC

Helping our choir students sing at the Sydney Opera House

Renegade Basketball and Coach Hughes

Grand Opening of the Kern County Justice Center

The BC family

Seen on Social Media

Neo

We are BC!

July 9 Blog

BC Hosts Black Caucus Annual Leadership Conference

Meeting with the VFW

AG Ventures Camp

Celebrating our neighbor Shafter

Bakersfield Chamber Government Review Committee:

Coming Soon: New Student IDs

Wrapping up…..

Closing out the 2015-2016 academic year

We are BC!

Follow Blog via Email

Latest tweets

Recent Posts

Top Posts & Pages

Blog Archives

Blog Stats

Other Blogs