Although it is not scored as a team competition, Wallace Middle School from Lake Isabella distinguished itself with four category winners, while Fruitvale Jr. High and Ollivier Middle schools had three category champions of their own among approximately 950 students from 40 schools who competed at the 38th annual Kern County Middle School Mathematics Field Day held at Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield on May 3. The math talent was spread among many with 14 different schools claiming at least one category champion. 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, the competition is a fun day of problem solving games and events. 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." Some of the cheering, during the outside team relay, math solving events, took on the air of a sporting event with one spirited student spectator shouting out, "Three plus two equals five," for no apparent reason. More

It was almost as if a light bulb came on in teacher Kevin Crosby’s head when he saw that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) was willing to invest $5,000 in schools that could harness energy to educate students. Crosby, who teaches a severely handicapped class for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools at Sunset School in Lamont, came up with the idea of creating a "solar garden and greenhouse" for his students. After lots of research and planning, Crosby applied for a "Bright Ideas Grant" under PG&E’s "Solar Schools" program in September. Word came back from the energy giant on January 2 that Crosby’s idea, "Project Solar Garden," had been selected and that he would be recipient of the maximum grant award of $5,000. Crosby was excited about the news."Project Solar Garden will provide our students with hands-on scientific experiences," Crosby said. "It will definitely help our students who have developmental delays and struggle with basic academic skills. Our students learn the most from visual and kinesthetic activities. If they can see and feel the plants and dig up the soil with their own hands, they can make the connection between how a seed becomes a plant. If they are able to water the plants everyday and monitor their growth, then they will learn the growth cycle of plants." Crosby got even more ideas when PG&E paid for him to go to Sacramento on March 18 to attend a series of workshops on wind power, solar and hydrogen energy. He also received a National Energy Development Project Science of Energy Kit to supplement his classroom curriculum with measurable experiments. More