Ed roundup: Taft College awarded "green" scholarship money
| Tuesday, Mar 09 2010 04:40 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Mar 09 2010 05:44 PM
Taft College is one of 10 community colleges statewide that each received $25,000 in grants to provide scholarships for students seeking "green" jobs, Sempra Energy Foundation announced Tuesday.
"The grants will help educate community college students in environmental sustainability and prepare them for careers in green job fields," said Jessie J. Knight Jr., chairman of the board of directors of the foundation, in a statement.
The scholarships will go to students enrolled in educational and training programs in science, technology and engineering to promote new advances in environmental compliance, sustainability planning and alternative energy.
The Sempra Energy Foundation's contribution will also give Taft College the chance to receive $12,500 more in matching funds from the Bernard Osher Foundation as part of a statewide fundraising campaign. Sempra Energy Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Sempra Energy.
A 48-day march that began in Bakersfield and will end in Sacramento is stomping its way out of Kern County. The marchers are protesting state budget cuts affecting education, among other state budget issues.
The "March for California's Future," sponsored in part by California Federation of Teachers, started late last week at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park here. The marchers -- who include school teachers, a college professor and a probation officer -- are traveling nearly 300 miles to the state Capitol.
On Monday and Tuesday, they traveled through Wasco and McFarland to Delano, where they held a rally at Cesar Chavez Park. Wednesday, they'll leave Delano and travel out of Kern to Allensworth.
For more information, visit www.fight4cafuture.com.
The Bakersfield High School Chorale has commissioned a piece by noted composer Stephen Hatfield, said Christopher Borges, director of BHS choirs.
Hatfield is a Canadian composer, conductor, clinician, workshop leader and lecturer specializing in choral music. The BHS group has performed many of his pieces in the past.
The new work, titled "En el principio," is in Spanish and English with words penned by local accompanist Alicia Ellsworth and additional lyrics by Hatfield.
The world premier of the work will take place at the BHS choirs' Festival Concert March 25 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on H Street. Admission to the concert is $3 in advance or $4 at the door.
For more on him, go to www.stephenhatfield.com.
-- 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.
