Kern River Valley Revitalization (KRVR) held their monthly Steering Committee meeting last Wednesday, March 5, at the Kernville Chamber of Commerce Community Building to discuss local current events and topics.
KRVR is a collaboration of local agencies, business owners, and concerned citizens working to facilitate the social, natural, and financial health of the KRV for this and future generations. Everyone in the Kern Valley is invited to come share their ideas at the Steering Committee meetings, as everyone who lives here is a stakeholder in our community’s future.
 Nancy Puckett, program coordinator for the Family Resource Center in Lake Isabella, speaks at the March 5 meeting of Kern River Valley Revitalization in Kernville. The resource center will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Friday. |
Nancy Puckett, program coordinator for the Family Resource Center in Lake Isabella, gave a PowerPoint presentation about the KRV Collaborative and its many achievements for the children and families of the Kern Valley since its inception a decade ago. The Family Resource Center’s mission is 'Helping Children Reach New Heights,' and the group has done so through a variety of programs, including case management services, in which DHS, CPS, the Sheriff’s Department and the schools meet monthly to discuss which families need intervention.
'Great Beginnings,' a program for children 0-5, which includes intensive home visits, developmental and health checks, and the 'Me and My Friends' weekly playgroup have enriched the lives of children and parents. The County’s pilot program 'Differentiated Response,' in which Child Protective Services (CPS) workers partner with Department of Human Services (DHS) workers and family advocates, provide ongoing support for families who are working through CPS referrals. Nutrition education allows children to learn the value of fitness and eating fruits and vegetables. After School Programs, such as HOPE for the K-5 students and 'The Hangout' for the middle school students continue to improve the quality of life for local families.
Members of the KRV Collaborative represent every facet of family health in the Kern Valley, including every school, healthcare service provider, media outlet and County agency in the area, as well as the U.S. Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Southern California Edison, Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Salvation Army, and a variety of independent businesses and individuals who care about the future of the Kern Valley’s children. 'Who are we,' asked Puckett. 'We are you,' she said.
Since the KRV Collaborative began, and in conjunction with the Family Resource Center, it has provided case management to 1,045 families and have seen an average 36 percent gain in income and 19 percent gain in conditions of children. The organizations, with funds from the California Department of Education nutrition grants, have also helped to establish working gardens at Kernville and Wallace School sites, and have increased the number of students eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily by 36 percent. The students involved in the after school programs have shown a 50 percent improvement in math and 45 percent improvement in English/Language Arts, alcohol usage dropped 18 percent, and the number of lice-related incidents dropped by 88 percent; from 998 in 1998-1999 to only 117 in 2007-2008.
The KRV Collaborative meets the fourth Thursday of every month from 3:30-5 p.m. at the Senior Center in Lake Isabella, and the community is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Entire Community Will Reap Rewards of
KUSD Bond Effort for Wallace Sites
KUSD Superintendant Mary Barlow gave a presentation about the proposed bond that will be on the ballot in the upcoming June 3 election, which asks residents to approve an extension of the previous bond to complete necessary upgrades to the Woodrow Wallace campus in Lake Isabella. KUSD used funds from the previous bond for the most urgent improvements at Wallace, such as removing asbestos and lead paint in classrooms and making the school more energy efficient, but more is needed to fully update the school.
Barlow says that the improvements that have already been made have had a positive impact on the students. 'The students don’t mark up their facilities; they are proud of their schools now,' she said.
The bond would infuse KUSD with $6.6 million for the needed improvements. The money would be used to replace 20 dilapidated relocatable classrooms with 19 new classrooms, effectively splitting the elementary and middle school sections. The design would also build a community center and gym, which could be used as an emergency evacuation site for the entire Kern Valley. The Wallace campus is above the flood line. The plans also call for two additional entrances to the campus to help mitigate the existing before- and after-school traffic problem.
The good news for Kern Valley residents, said Barlow, is that it would not increase their current taxes at all, but would extend the bond life by, at most, 16 years at the current rate, $30 for every $100,000 in assessed value on each property. If the bond passes, KUSD will also receive a $4 million matching grant from the State of California; if the bond fails, other schools in the state would receive the funds. Barlow was very clear that if the bond passes, no money will be spent for salaries and/or administration; every penny will be used for construction and facility improvements for the children. The district’s architectural plans have already been approved by all the necessary state agencies. Barlow said they can break ground as early as this summer. If you have any questions about the bond issues or proposed improvements, contact Mary Barlow at 379-3651.
KRV Rotary Club Programs Update
Marie Rushton, President of the KRV Rotary Club, and Dona Anderson, Rotary member, gave a presentation about the Rotary Club and the services it provides. According to Anderson, Rotary was founded in Chicago in 1905, and is the oldest and largest service club in the U.S. The Kern Valley chapter was founded in 1962 and membership averages about 20-25 members. The focus of the club is service on all levels, including international, club, community, and vocational.
The programs championed by the Kern Valley Rotary Club include the Young Eagles program, in which students can sign up to be taken up by a volunteer Rotary member in an airplane and learn about careers in aviation, and National Immunization Day, in which member Dr. Holly Spohn-Gross plans to participate by traveling to India in an effort to help eradicate polio worldwide. In 2008-2009, KV Rotary plans to form a chapter of the Rotar-Act club, which gets young adults involved in their community, and an Interact Club, which is a service club for high school students. Rotary will be holding its annual international conference this June in Los Angeles. They are trying to set a Guinness record for collecting new and gently used books in all languages for K-3 students.
The KV Rotary Club meets for dinner every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at the Kern Valley Golf Course. For more information about Rotary, or to donate books, call Marie at 379-3671.
Spring Health Faire April 7-8
Jeanette Rogers announced that the Kern Valley Healthcare District will be holding its annual Spring Health Faire on April 7-8. In the Kern Valley Hospital cafeteria on the first day from 8 - 9:30 a.m., there will be a low cost ($10) lipid panel blood draw test that will include cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, VLDL, LDL, and a calculated coronary risk factor. The tests usually cost at least $125. A free continental breakfast of nutritious snacks will follow. Rogers stressed that patients must fast for 12 hours before the draw, but water and medication are allowed. The Health Faire on the following day, April 8, will be held from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m in the hospital cafeteria. Here, representatives from various organizations will be available for consultations; they will give out information and provide many free health services. Those who had the lipid blood draw on April 7 can discuss their test results on this day. Participants can request their test results be mailed to their home or faxed to their physician if they are unable to attend on April 8. For more information, contact Jeanette Rogers at 376-4419. 'KVHD is always looking for new ways to partner with other organizations to improve the health and wellness of our citizens,' said Rogers.
Kern River Preserve Receives Grant to Build New Visitors Center
Alison Sheehey, Outreach Coordinator of California Audubon’s Kern River Preserve, announced the organization has received a $152,000 grant to fund the work of planning the new visitor’s center. Sheehey said that they are currently focused on selecting a site for the center, developing the marketing study and business plan, and doing the necessary environmental studies associated with building. Sheehey said when she submitted the center profile to the National Audubon Headquarters, it was dubbed 'the best they had ever seen.' Her enthusiasm for the local flora, fauna, and geology was infectious and had many attendees itching to get out of their seats and enjoy the outdoors.
Kern River Valley Spring Nature Festival is Coming
Sheehey also announced that the Kern River Preserve will be holding its annual Kern River Valley Spring Nature Festival from April 30 - May 6, 2008, at its headquarters in Weldon and Circle Park in Kernville. The festival celebrates the biodiversity of the Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada, which is home to more than 200 nesting species of birds, more than 100 species of mammals, more than 130 species of butterflies, and 2,000 species of plants.
This year, the festival will boast more than 30 quality field trips coordinated by Bob Barnes as well as children’s activities, information tables, wildlife displays, nature-related vendors, and workshops at the Preserve that will start every hour on the hour. There will be dinners on Friday and Saturday night at South Fork School, featuring keynote speaker Bob Steele on Friday, who will give a themed presentation about "Warblers: nesting, migrant, and vagrant of the Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada plus a bonus regional specialty birds." Saturday night's keynote speaker will be John Muir Laws, who will present "An Evening Exploring the Natural World of the Sierra Nevada."
To learn more about the Kern Valley Spring Nature Festival, visit the festival website at http://kern.audubon.org/bioregion.htm.
KRVR meets the first Wednesday of every month, and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 2, at 9 a.m. at the Kernville Chamber Building. For more information, visit www.krvr.org.
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