Sheila Cazares and Jane Frando know how much their peers admire what they have done in their long careers as school bus drivers for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. Both received standing ovations when their names were announced as recipients of safe driving awards during ceremonies held at Sequoia Middle School in Bakersfield on Aug. 13. The two are among an elite group of just seven drivers who have been a part of KCSOS Transportation Services since it began busing students from home-to-school in 1981. The others are Judy Fike, Julia Beverly, Carrie Boschini, Pat Jackson-Shaw and Julia Hughes. Imagine driving the equivalent of 52 times around the world. Then, factor in no accidents and what you have is Cazares’ amazing driving record. She has logged almost 1.3 million miles driving her school bus without being involved in a preventable accident. Officer Von Cain, representing the California Highway Patrol (CHP), presented Cazares with the CHP Safe Driving Award, which is given to drivers each time they surpass 100,000 miles without a preventable accident. Cazares has accumulated quite a few. As Cazares walked down the aisle amid boisterous applause and a standing ovation, Cain told the audience, “Sheila, I can’t even fathom that much mileage, and without an accident? I thought I drove a lot in my patrol car, but it is nothing compared to what you have accomplished.” More

Fifty-four school bus drivers, employed by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) were honored Aug. 15 in the Sequoia Middle School auditorium in Bakersfield for driving a combined 450 years without being involved in an accident. Each driver received a Safe Driving Pin designating the number of years he or she has driven without an accident. Topping the list were Jane Frando and Julia Hughes, who have not had an accident since KCSOS Transportation Services began driving students to school and home, 26 years ago. The awards were presented by Kern County Superintendent of Schools Larry E. Reider, Associate Superintendent Christine Frazier and Assistant Superintendent, Support Services, Tom Valos. Transportation Services Director Paul Linder commended the assembled drivers, telling them that the accident rate for KCSOS school bus drivers had dropped by half over the previous year and that all of the accidents were minor and of the non-injury variety. None of the accidents resulted in more than $500 worth of damages to the buses. Fifteen school bus drivers also received California Highway Patrol (CHP) Safe Driving Certificates from school bus safety officer Mike Reid. Each driver had driven at least 10 years or a minimum of 100,000 miles without a preventable accident. More

What is going on in the classroom has become so important to Chevron that this year it upped the yearly amount of its Chevron Teacher/Classroom Grants from $20,000 to $35,000. Forty-two grants ranging in amounts from $250-to-$1,000 were awarded to 37 teachers from 30 different public schools in Kern, Fresno and Monterey counties where Chevron has facilities. Among the 37 who received the grants on Aug. 7 at the Chevron Energy Center in Bakersfield were five teachers from the Kern County Superintendent of Schools' (KCSOS) Special Education Services. Four of the five teach severely handicapped children and one, Delmy Jones, teaches behaviorally-challenged students at Aurora School in Bakersfield. The other KCSOS teachers are Pam Beavers, Kevin Crosby and Marie Walker, who all teach at Sunset School in Bakersfield, and Gaylene Roberts who teaches at Centennial Elementary in Bakersfield. More

It has kind of been an unofficial tradition for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office to kick off a new school year by rewarding its school bus drivers with Safe Driving Awards from the previous year. The tradition continued on Aug. 16 at Sequoia Middle School in Bakersfield, when 64 school bus drivers in Transportation Services were honored with certificates and pins for safe driving from the office and the California Highway Patrol (CHP). More than setting an example for the upcoming year, the ceremony serves as a reminder to each driver of how important a role they play transporting children every school day. There were noteworthy examples by which drivers could set their future goals. Veteran school bus driver Sheila Cazares has set a mark that California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Reed thinks could be a record for the state. Cazares begins her 26th year having driven 1,158,048 miles without being involved in a preventable accident. Two of her colleagues, Jane Frando and Julia Hughes have gone their entire 25-year careers without being involved in a preventable accident. More

Ken Dyar has always believed there is a strong correlation between physical fitness and academic performance. California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell agreed and honored Dyar on Nov. 17 as one of the state's five California Teachers of the Year for 2006. Dyar, a physical education and life skills teacher at Cecil Avenue Middle School in Delano, joined Los Osos Middle School's Diana Barnhart, Katherine Edwards Middle School of Whittier's Denis Cruz, James Monroe High School of Los Angeles' Kelly Jean Hanock and Abraham Lincoln Continuation High School of Riverside's Shelbi J. Wilson in the elite group of educators. From the distinguished group, O'Connell nominated Cruz as the state's candidate for National Teacher of the Year. All five will be feted at a Jan. 10 dinner in Sacramento. More

Driving a school bus safely is such an important requirement in the Kern County Superintendent of Schools' Transportation Services department, that yearly it holds an awards ceremony to honor those who have done it the best. During Aug. 17 ceremonies, approximately 67 drivers received justifiable recognition. "When I look at the list of school bus drivers, their years of driving without a preventable accident adds up to something like 462 years," Transportation Services Director Paul Linder told the audience. "In just over 2.3 million miles of driving this year, we had a few minor bus bumps and scrapes, but no injuries and that is a credit to the professionalism each of you drivers bring to your job." More

Bakersfield High School’s Vicki Bousquet and Sierra Middle School’s Marilyn Wooden were recently honored as Kern County’s Teachers of the Year by the Jim Burke Education Foundation at a reception ceremony held at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office in Bakersfield. Each received a $500 stipend for extended study and a Waterford crystal vase. Another $500 in their names was donated to their respective schools. Bousquet and Wooden were selected out of a field of 26 finalists. More

Kathleen Edens was literally kept on her toes during the holiday season. By day, she got involved in the marketing of the Kern County Museum’s busy events’ schedule and at night Edens rehearsed for a principle role in The Nutcracker Ballet. Edens has been a marketing intern with the museum for 13 months. She has been a ballet dancer since the age of three. Edens grew up in Bakersfield, graduating from Garces Memorial High School and then from the University of California, Irvine, earning a double major — Dance/English — bachelor’s degree. More

Transporting children safely to school is not easy work. Many of the students have special needs. Bus drivers encounter tough obstacles such as thick fog, rural routes and dangerous driving by other motorists. Yet, for the 2002-03 school year, Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ (KCSOS) drivers logged almost 2.3 million miles with only four preventable accidents. More

When the Kern County Superintendent of Schools summoned 20 teachers to his office on December 2, it was not just to personally thank them for the work they do for children. It was to reward them so they could do more. More

Sheila Cazares' has a resume that looks like it belongs in "The Guinness Book of World Records." Cazares has been a school bus driver with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS)  since 1981. She has driven a distance of almost a million miles -- 919,370 -- without an accident. Understandably, Cazares got quite a bit of attention, when KCSOS Transportation Services held its annual Safe Driving Awards banquet on Aug. 21. More

Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) bus drivers nearly accomplished a sweep at the March 16 Kern County California Association of School Transportation Officials (CASTO) Chapter 12 “road-e-o.” KCSOS drivers took the first four places among the top five drivers in the under 29-foot bus category. In order of finish they were: Darla Lee-McNeill - first; Tara Cook - second; Deanna Harvey - third and Melissa Hawley - fourth. Kern High School District’s Nancy Ceccone prevented the sweep by finishing fifth. More

Imagine transporting children to and from school for 20 years without putting as much as a scratch on a bus. Transportation Services drivers Jane Frando, Delores Henson and Julia Hughes reached that milestone after the 2000-2001 school year. During ceremonies at Bakersfield’s American Legion Hall on August 23, the trio was given a standing ovation by their fellow drivers as they received county office 20 year Safe Driving pins. More

“I’m shocked” was the reaction county office Account Clerk III Darie Wright gave after hearing she had received third place honors in a national competition. More