Ed roundup: Stockdale headed to state Mock Trial tourney
| Thursday, Mar 18 2010 05:00 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Mar 18 2010 05:00 PM
Stockdale High School will represent Kern County in the California Mock Trial competition starting Friday in San Jose.
Stockdale's team beat out 15 other area high schools in the 28th Kern County Mock Trial in January. Stockdale took top county honors 12 years in a row before Garces Memorial High School won last year. Garces lost in the state competition against the eventual state winner.
In Mock Trial, school teams act as the defense and prosecution for a make-believe case. Students act as attorneys, witnesses, court clerks and bailiffs. Judges score the students on their knowledge of the case and performance.
The state competition ends Sunday.
Bakersfield City School District is eligible to receive more than $15 million in federal money for school construction, repairs or to purchase land for new schools, the U.S. Department of Treasury and U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday.
About $11 billion will be issued for qualified school construction bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bonds help state and local governments obtain low-cost financing for public school improvements and construction. Roughly $11 billion in bonds were distributed in 2009. The 2010 allocations include $6.6 billion to the 50 states and the remaining $4.4 billion to 103 large local educational agencies.
Twelve districts in California were allocated $720 million. BCSD, the state's largest elementary school district, was the only Kern County recipient. The district did not immediately know details about the program, or how the district could benefit.
Three Kern County schools were awarded $1,000 on Thursday for being "front-runners" in this year's challenge by The Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
The schools are three of the 31 in the state that will receive honors in the contest that promotes increased physical activity and better health among California's youth. Front-runners are "leading the way in engaging students in physical activity," according to The Governor's Council.
The three Kern schools are Princeton Street Elementary School in Delano, A. M. Thomas Middle School in Lost Hills and Kern County Community Learning Center Tech in Bakersfield.
The checks were donated by contest sponsor CVS/pharmacy. Schools will also get a Nintendo Wii video game system from Nintendo and a skateboarding game.
The competition's grand prizes, announced later this year, include a new fitness activity center and $5,000 worth of physical activity equipment.
Cal State Bakersfield's human resources management students will compete in the regional HR Games on Saturday in Reno, Nev.
Students will compete in a Jeopardy-like style covering topics such as employment law, recruiting, staffing, compensation benefits and unions.
Late last month, the CSUB teams competed against a dozen teams from six CSU campuses. The team comprised of students Amber Newsom, Adrian Nevarez and April Perreira placed fifth and moved on to compete in Reno.
Bakersfield will join two other CSU teams in representing California, and will compete against teams from Hawaii, Idaho and Oregon, among others.
The games are designed to foster friendly competition among students while preparing them for human resources exams and careers.
The president and CEO of Aera Energy LLC, Gaurdie Banister Jr., will speak to math and science students at South High School on Tuesday on challenges of today's global economy, among other things.
Banister Jr. will also share his rags to riches story, and take questions from Math and Science Academy students.
He has been CEO of Aera, one of the state's largest oil and gas producers, since 2007. The company, with about 1,100 employees, earned more than $4 billion in revenue last year. Before Aera, Banister Jr. was a vice president for Shell, based in Singapore.
Aera also provides mentors and field trips for the local students.
About $5,000 in scholarships are available to area high school students who produce art projects out of recycled material or write an essay on recycling or renewable energy programs.
It's part of the 2010 Greater Bakersfield Green Expo, an offshoot of Arvin Green Arts Festival, which showcases recycled art, and local and state businesses innovators in the recycling and renewable energy industries.
The expo will be held April 17 at Yokuts Park. The event is being promoted by all area high schools, and is being endorsed by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools and Kern High School District.
For applications, guidelines on projects or more information, go to www.gbgreenexpo.org. Student applications are due March 26.
-- Staff writer Jorge Barrientos
For more education news, go to The Californian's education blog, The Grade, at www.bakersfield.com/blogs, or follow The Grade's Twitter at twitter.com/TBCTheGrade.
