News News

They built it in one day

Webteam — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:21:36 GMT

Sometimes the spirit of man is amazing when called upon to perform feats that seem physically impossible. Such fortitude was displayed on Oct. 29, when a force of approximately 200 men and women, some with little or no construction experience, were asked to build a playground for children in one day at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. And they did. Called Kern Inspiration Playground, it truly was, as national nonprofit playground designer KABOOM! came to Bakersfield on Sept. 1 and asked local school children to draw pictures of what they would like to see in the playground. KaBOOM then set about designing the playground, which was financed through a grant from Albertsons Sav-on. When the clock struck 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 29, Albertsons made its physical presence known, as approximately 155 volunteer workers from stores in Bakersfield, Paso Robles, Ridgecrest and the San Fernando Valley came ready to build.

Concert all about ‘Revolution’

Webteam — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:20:20 GMT

If you do not think getting up at 7 a.m. to take a bus from Van Nuys to Bakersfield to hear opera is something you would do, then you probably do not have the same motivation that drives high school Academic Decathlon teams. October 21 was the date of the annual Academic Decathlon Concert held at Rabobank Convention Center. It started at 10 a.m. Birmingham Community Charter High School senior Angel Portales was one of those, along with his team, who made the early morning bus trek from Van Nuys to Bakersfield to learn by listening. “Opera is exhilarating,” Portales said. “When the singers want to make a heroic point, it sounds heroic. I like hearing the sounds of the symphony orchestra instruments, too. But more than that, this was a great experience to hear live what we will be tested on in the music portion of the Academic Decathlon later his school year.”

Unveiled facts, history at museum

Webteam — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:52:18 GMT

If the town had not been named after Col. Thomas Baker, Bakersfield residents might well have had to endure an uncomplimentary nickname instead. According to Kern County Museum docent Dale Hopwood, Spanish settlers once referred to the whole valley as Los Tules, words borrowed from native Americans then reworked to describe the marshy reeds that grew everywhere at the time. Approximately 400 fourth-graders who visited the museum on Oct. 13 for California History Day, learned that piece of local lore and a lot more about Kern County. It seems being The Tules was a little bit good and a little bit bad. On the one hand everything was swampy, and according to Hopwood, good raw materials for building houses did not thrive in that environment. It was mostly reeds and cottonwood trees, and the trees were not sturdy enough for framing. So, the inventive settlers plastered the branches together with swampy mud for the walls and used reeds to make the roof.

A symphony of learning

Webteam — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:36:56 GMT

Seeing musicians dressed in formal attire playing instruments, other than guitars and drums, is a totally unexpected sight for most young children. As if that is not enough of a visual curiosity, toss in melodic, never before heard sounds produced by strange-looking instruments, and you have a real learning experience known as Young People’s Concerts. Every year this cultural enrichment exposes a new group of mostly elementary school children to orchestral music performed by the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Conductor John Farrer. Approximately 3,000 children attended a total of four, 45 minute performances spread out over two mornings on October 6 and 7. Believing exposure to visual and performing arts is important for the educational growth of children, the Symphony has taken part in the performances for many years, receiving support from the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

Quick study tops art field

Webteam — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:16:36 GMT

Despite taking only a few minutes to create in the classroom, fourth-grader Nicole Suelter had to wait four months to discover her painting had been judged the Sweepstakes Winner in the annual Kern County Fair Children’s Art competition. Artwork had to be submitted in May to be eligible for the contest in which entries are displayed and judged each year during the September-October Kern County Fair. The announcement of Suelter’s success came during the Sept. 30 awards ceremony held in the fairgrounds’ Harvest Hall in Bakersfield. Suelter was a third-grader at Almondale Elementary School when she painted her winning acrylic picture, “Orchids,” using a Sumi-e painting style just introduced in class that day. She now attends North Beardsley Elementary. Suelter said it took her “a couple of minutes” to paint and that she was “shocked” that her teacher wanted to enter it in the contest.