ADAKC’s Senior Prom 2021

Put on your dancing shoes! The 3rd Annual Alzheimer’s Disease Association of Kern County’s (ADAKC) Senior Prom will happen both in person and virtually this year on Friday, May 14 from 4 to 8 p.m.  With the theme, The Heart Never Forgets, ADAKC will take it back to the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s with all the details of school dances and music from back in the day. The event’s in-person portion will adhere to all COVID-19 guidelines. To buy tickets you can email events@adakc.org.  To learn more about ADAKC’s services and this fundraising event, please visit www.adakc.org.

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Kern County Network for Children Appoints Dr. James L. Rodriguez to Governing Board

Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) recently appointed CSUB’s School of Social Sciences and Education (SSE) Dean, Dr. James L. Rodriguez, to its Governing Board.  Established in 1992 by the Kern County Board of Supervisors, KCNC is a partnership of local government, schools, businesses, and communities working together on behalf of children.

“I am thrilled and honored to have been appointed to the Governing Board of the Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) and delighted to serve as a representative of CSUB on the board,” says Rodriguez.  “It will be a privilege to serve the children, families, and communities of Kern County and beyond through service on the KCNC board.”

For more information, please visit www.kern.org.

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Golden Empire Transit Welcomes Expanded Transit Center to CSUB Campus

Golden Empire Transit (GET) recently celebrated the opening of its expanded transit center at California State University- Bakersfield (CSUB), marked by a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony. The expanded transit center will allow for future added bus service to transport students, staff, faculty, and residents easily and safely to and from the campus.

The new bus transit center improves pedestrian and bus movement and facilitates easier transfers between bus lines. The new facility will house six bus bays along the campus’s West Don Hart Drive, providing a safe and convenient configuration for riders and bus operators. Project amenities include bus shelters, seating, lighting, signage, and a bike-share location.

In addition to providing better accessibility for students and faculty, non-students will be able to use the bus transit center to access CSUB for community events. The new location serves as a central transit hub for GET patrons to transfer from one bus line to another, providing better access to Southwest Bakersfield.

For more information, please visit www.getbus.org.

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Local Students Win Awards at YAM Art Exhibit

Local high school students placed in the 2021 Central Area Youth Art Month Virtual Exhibit, hosted by the California Art Education Association and California State University, Fresno. Nearly 60 student artists from across the Central Valley participated in the exhibit.

Winners included Liberty High School students Sarah Nguyen, Second Place CAEA Ruth Jansen Award in the High School 2 (D) category, and Lexi Dominguez, an honorable mention.

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Kern County Students Place in California Academic Decathlon Events

Local students from Kern County’s top three teams, Stockdale, Arvin, and Frontier High Schools, competed in the virtual California Academic Event against teams from across the state.  Academic Decathlon is made up of ten events including Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Science and Speech. A unique aspect of the competition is that it is designed to include students from all academic backgrounds.

A team consists of nine students from the 9th through 12th grades at the same high school. Each team is comprised of three students whose grade point average falls into the “A” category (Honors), three students in the “B” category (Scholastic) and three students in the “C” category (Varsity). They compete against other students in the same divisions. At the state competition, to level the playing field, the top 60 scoring schools from county competitions across the state are placed into separate divisions (D1, D2, and D3) to compete with teams that have similar scores.