Susan Barr
Kern Valley Sun

A school violence prevention and intervention program, the local aquatic program and the 2010 Living Green in the KRVR Festival were the main topics on the agenda at the Oct. 22 Kern River Collaborative meeting held at the Senior Center in Lake Isabella.

Nancy Puckett, Director of the Kernville Union School District’s Family Resource Center facilitated the monthly meeting. This month’s agenda drew a substantial crowd of representatives from many of the valley’s community agencies and organizations. Puckett gave the first presentation in which she provided an overview of the many positive changes that have taken place in valley schools over the last three years as a result of a multi-agency school violence prevention and intervention program. Speaking about the funding for this program Puckett elaborated, “This is basically what puts Deputy Garcia at local schools.” She added, “What he does in the schools is not just walk around saying hi to the kids, he is in the classroom teaching science-based prevention programs.” She was speaking specifically about the Second Step program that gets to the heart of what it really feels like to be on the receiving end of bullying. He runs the program at all of the valley’s schools for both the South Fork and Kernville Union School Districts. Funding for the program was for five years and it is now in the final year.

Puckett also mentioned that teachers also teach the Project Alert Program which goes one step further than the “Just Say No To Drugs program. It teaches the students what happens to their bodies after using drugs after both a short and long time.

Dr. Holly Spohn of the Sienna Wellness Center was at the meeting to bring the group up to date on the Kern Valley Aquatic Program and the Kern Valley Fun Club. Both she and swimming program coordinator, Lynette Thomas spoke of the program’s many successes, the increased number of participants, and the highly successful fundraising efforts of the last several months. Spohn stated, “We have to give our kids a chance in this valley and this is one way (swimming program) that we can give them a tool, a task, a skill, that they can carry forever. It will give them everything they need to succeed in life. It may not be in the pool, . . but that confidence is bigger and better than anything else that can happen.“

Last to present were Richard Rowe and Jenny Hanley, organizers of the 2010 Living Green in the Kern River Valley Festival and Expo. The event which was held for the first time last March will be back again in an even bigger and better way. The two shared with the group some of the plans for next year’s event which include holding the multitude of the Festival and Expo events at one central location in Wofford Heights instead of them being spread throughout the valley. An ongoing film festival will be held throughout the months leading up to Living Green, Next year’s event will be held over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend next year.

The next KRV Collaborative meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19 at the Senior Center.