One could not find a student grumbling about math on May 5 at Ridgeview High School. Quite to the contrary many students were offering high praise for the subject. Alicante Avenue School student Chris Leal said he likes math "more than babysitting my sister," and classmate Norma Felix said, "I love math more than drawing, and I love drawing." Mt. View Middle School student Kiara Rodriguez loves math for another reason. "When I go shopping and see I can get 20 percent off a pair of shoes, I want to know how much money that is going to save me. Math is all about shopping," Rodriguez laughed.All of the comments came during the 37th annual Kern County Middle School Mathematics Field Day. It is a yearly, fun day of problem solving games and competitions sponsored by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Westchester Kiwanis Club, Bakersfield Math Council, California Math Council, Kern County Science Foundation American Petroleum Institute-San Joaquin Valley Chapter and Ridgeview High. Some events have playful names such as "leap frog" and "mad hatter." Still others offer the flavor of athletic competition with names such as "power relay," "circuit training," "individual medley" and "triathlon games." More

West High School biology instructor Danny Arretche and Desert High School (Edwards Air Force Base) science teacher Debra Lewis were honored May 1 as Kern County's Teachers of the Year for 2007. They will represent Kern County in the California Teacher of the Year competition along with alternate Peggy Dewane-Pope, an English and reading teacher at Stonecreek Junior High. The California Department of Education (CDE) sponsors the annual California Teacher of the Year program. Arretche, Lewis and Dewane-Pope were announced at a reception hosted by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools at the Kern County Museum to honor 39 county teachers who had been nominated for the award by their schools and districts. A committee of educators and volunteers reviewed all the applications. Site visits were made to the top candidates during the last week of April. All 39 nominees received plaques and certificates. More