Although it is not scored as a team competition, Murray Middle School of Ridgecrest distinguished itself with 10 category finalists and Rosedale Middle School and La Viña Middle School of Delano each had eight finalists among approximately 800 students from 31 schools who competed at the 39th annual Kern County Middle School Mathematics Field Day held at Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield May 2. The competition, 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, is a fun day of problem solving games and competitions. Some 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.” One event in particular, the Team Relays, seemed to bring out the real competitive nature in the students competing, as well as those sitting in the stands rooting for them. More

Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) was one of six organizations to be honored with Humanitarian Mini Grants at the 14th annual Jim Burke Foundation Teacher of the Year Awards Night held at the KCSOS downtown office on April 28. The KCSOS Educational Services Foundation received the $500 minigrant in the memory of Corrine Werdell to benefit the office's KernCorps AmeriCorps program. Other programs receiving minigrants were Buena Vista Museum of Natural History's "Junior Docent Training," City of Bakersfield Recreation and Parks' "Build a Bike," Metro-Bridging the Gap's "After School Tutoring," Victory Outreach's "Youth Center Curriculum" and Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault's "Choose Respect." Biggest announcement of the evening was the naming of Burke's Teachers of the Year, which this year honored Sierra Middle School science teacher Robert Hodash and Kern Valley High School biology, chemistry and math instructor Thomas Cormack. More