Hanford Insider: Celebrating Excellence in Education 2026

Welcome To Hanford Insider

On this episode of The Hanford Insider, we honor our outstanding Kings County educators with Superintendent Todd Barlow. Rob will give you a look at some of this week's community events, and I'll be back with your sports report. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, April 20th.

City Council Meeting Preview

Community Calendar Highlights

Share Your Event With Us

Superintendent Todd Barlow Returns

What’s Working In Local Schools

Welcome to the Hanford Insider, where community meets conversation. We explore the ideas, events, and individuals driving Hanford forward, one story at a time. I'm your host, Rob Bentley, so let's get started. In community news this week, the Hanford City Council will meet on Tuesday, April 21st. At 4 p.m., they'll be studying a potential ballot measure during the study session. During the regular meeting at 7 p.m., they'll be potentially adopting the Urban Forest Master Plan and seeking authorization to construct a new fueling island at the Hanford Airport. Following the meeting, one of the council members usually posts a recap of the actions taken on social media. I'll be sure to repost it here for those of you who don't have Facebook or Instagram. Now let's take a look at this week's community calendar. Tuesday, April 21st is the Kings County Excellence and Education event at the Hanford Fox Theater at 6:30 p.m. April 21st is also the date of the King's Symphony Gala Fundraiser at the King's Country Club. The Carnegie Museum of Kings County is holding a Japanese tea ceremony in the Museum Courtyard this Saturday, April 25th at 10 a.m. The museum has also scheduled a special author event with Sarah Vladik on Wednesday, May 6th. For more information and to RSVP to these events, visit Carnegie Museum of Kingscounty.org. The Sierra Pacific High School Band has been having so much success with their shredding events that they've scheduled another one for Saturday, April 25th at the Old District Office across from Carl Jr. from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. If you have an event coming up, large or small, and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to HanfordInsider at gmail.com. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events. It's the most comprehensive community calendar available. It's hard to believe we are closing in on the end of the 25-26 school year here in Kings County. And it gives me great pleasure to welcome back to the show Mr. Todd Barlow, who is the Kings County Superintendent of Schools. Welcome to the show, Todd. Thank you, Rob. Good to be here. You know, Todd, this isn't your first appearance. We had you on a couple years ago, so I thought that would be a great chance to get an update on some of the programs that are going on. And we know you have a very special event coming up this week. We'll get to that in just a minute. But as a superintendent in Kings County, we hear a lot of things in the news, social media about education in California. So tell us what's good about education in California right now and how is Kings County excelling?

Farm Day And Career Awareness

Medical And Trade Pathways Grow

It's good to be here, Rob. Thank you. And uh we we're so lucky to be in a county, I think, of our size, our scope, even our geographic location. There's a lot of great things going on. And um, I come from myself from a small school district. When you're in a community the size of Kings County, you're able to communicate and get and do some things that would be harder to do in a larger county. So the uh the educational community here is very is very close-knit and supportive. So we're we're just happy to be a part of it and we're happy to uh be focusing on our upcoming celebration of that. There's a lot of great things going on in our school systems, and um, you know, recently uh we're coming off the heels of our of our Kings County Farm Day, which is uh an event for our third graders. It's a free event for our schools, they just uh transport their third graders to the fairgrounds, and we have a lot of presenters and volunteers exposing students who wouldn't otherwise be exposed to um the agricultural uh community. Yes, uh so agriculture is very diverse. It has a a scientific strand. There there's the biology, there's animal science, there's plant science, there's uh a commercial side to it, there's uh a real estate, there's a political side to it, there's there's a legal component, and more and more a computer science component to agriculture. And so it's it's much more than than what people think it is, and that's I think true of a lot of things. One of the more recent or recent in the last decade things that I think our community can be proud of and happy for is the medical pathways in our high schools. And uh, because that's a that's a huge employment training ground for for future medical professionals. And when people think of medicine, they usually think of, well, I'm gonna be a nurse or I'm gonna be a doctor. But there's a whole uh, you know, computer support, um, administrative support, human resources and technical side to medicine that you know had a lot more to do than just being a nurse or a doctor and making sure that our students are aware of all those opportunities in all the fields that we can think of. And the same same goes for education, right? All those all those components exist here too. And so uh preparing students for for the future is not just about you know these necessarily the uh the iconic things that we might think of, but it's it's all the all the things that make it up, that make those uh job opportunities up. And I think that we can something we can be very proud of. Hanford High in particular uh just won an award at the uh Cal Expo for their construction division. And uh Brian Combs, the teacher there, he Outstanding. Yeah, he won. Uh and the the kids, it's just amazing to see an example of students. Uh Lamore High won second place, by the way. And they always go back and forth. But we have students graduating from our schools ready to enter job markets in in with skills that I think are it's relatively unprecedented, you know, in in educational terms. And and I'm thinking in in my time in education for the past 30 years and and or even as a student, you know, in the past 50 years, I think we we are preparing students better for future opportunities that that might come their way um better than ever before.

Special Education Reaches Every District

Yeah, career technical education is not only a requirement for graduation participation in some of these classes, but um it definitely does prepare students for the future. You think of the person who's going to fix your AC unit, or you've you know, you think of the person who's going to come out and repair your plumbing or something like that. And all of these students can get the training now in schools, uh special trade schools, but in the public um sector, they can actually learn and train to do these things. So that's a wonderful opportunity for students in Kings County. One of the programs that I know that you're particularly proud of is the special education program in Kings County. And as an educator myself, I see firsthand the classes that are being impacted and how it's touching students' lives and how it's helping families in Kings County. So let's take a few minutes and talk about the special education program in Kings County and uh what impact it has.

Well, uh the the County Office, on behalf of the districts that we serve, the 13 districts in Kings County, we uh operate a special education program um and you know, widely known as as Shelley Baird School. For the first time next year, we will have satellite classes on every district, you know, uh not in every school site, but at every district, all 13 districts will be ho hosting a Shelley Baird classroom. Um that's unprecedented, but it it speaks to how widespread the program is and and how many more students are being identified. And I think there's a you know two sides to that. One side is that we're getting better as a society at identifying students with special needs, and the second side of that is there's there may be an uptick in in the need for that, which is also something that's being analyzed. But um we're very proud of the work that our staff does on behalf of the students uh that we serve. We know it's a great benefit to the districts to to do so and um it's a partnership that we're working with uh districts and district staff and uh providing opportunities to these students. And I think the the trend there I know, excuse me, the trend there has been um integration of students with special needs into our school system. Because if you if you think about it, we always say this in special education that the real world doesn't have doesn't isolate students or or people with special needs. They're in our communities and it's as much it needs to be as much about giving them the services that they need and then providing everybody, yeah, general education students and staff the opportunity to work with them as well, because that there's learning going on both ways. So that's really what we focus on.

Todd, the Kings County Department of Education is spread throughout the county, and you have hundreds of employees in Hanford, Lamore, Corcoran, Stratford, all of these outlying areas, and I know they work super hard, and this is your opportunity to express appreciation.

Well, our our office, Kings County Office of Education, we're uh we're approaching 500 staff members, and and we do have uh our staff all all over the county uh working in in districts, and uh so I I've it goes back to what I've always said is that is that there's really one job in education, and it is to support student learning. And if you think about everybody who works in education and everything they do, we we obviously uh you know think about true teachers being on the front line, instructional staff uh being on the front line, but everybody who does everything, and I I had a a great board member, Don Jacomazzi, uh back in the day who said, uh, Todd, it doesn't matter how good the teachers are if the kids don't get to school. So take care of your buses, take care of your bus drivers. And everybody who does people who work in the back office who are doing spreadsheets for payroll, and uh you think about food service workers and um maintenance staff who who load the trucks and get the equipment and the food and and it and all the supplies where it needs to go. Everybody is really doing one thing, which is supporting student learning. And it is it is a monumental task that no one of us could do alone. And so I really uh have always thought it's important to take time to highlight individuals who are doing such good work because the reality of it is there's there's probably more than we could name in any in any singular award season. But um just amazing people doing amazing things and students benefiting. And um, it's so wonderful to see, and we're so thankful, and we should be thankful as a society that we have this system in place um for the benefit of the the youth in our lives.

So, as part of this, we have a special celebration coming up on Tuesday night, and it's the annual Excellence and Education Awards event. And the ceremony begins at the Fox Theater in Hanford at 6 30 p.m. And I know you have a dinner beforehand, but can you tell us a little bit about this year's event and how you're going to be honoring outstanding educators?

Well, it's it's the same as it has been for for the last seven years. Uh, I changed, made significant changes when I when I arrived here, and that was based on my experience at a small school district. What we know for a fact is that there is excellence in every district. What we wanted to do was create a uh recognition program that highlighted all 13 districts and the county office of education. And the ultimate goal is that every everybody in every school or in every community in Keynes County can look up on that stage and say, there is excellence in my district. And we know we know that's true. And and and so the honorees for each year, you know, we we have um roughly 30 people who who are honored from our 13 districts. With the amount of employees, uh educational employees in Kings County, there's no way we'll ever get to them all. But every time somebody from one district or one school site gets up on stage, it's really a representative. And and the great thing, it's really representative of all the great work going on. And the great thing, and one thing I love about it, is they are chosen by their peers. And so you have these school communities sort of, and and it's probably done different everywhere, but they vote for who they think represents excellence at their sites, and then that person gets their w reward or the award, excuse me. And then it ends up highlighting the district and also the the good work that's going towards the students in whatever capacity. So it's it's great to see, and we're we're very thankful to be able to do it. I have to thank uh uh Educational Employees Credit Union for uh being our our longtime supporters of that effort. Um they're really great to work with and they love our program because of how we highlight staff from every single district and and not just a few.

This annual celebration is not just a celebration of outstanding uh teachers, educators, administrators, and uh classified employees, but it's also become kind of like a visual and performing art showcase, hasn't it?

It has. Uh every year we we highlight uh uh good pieces of art and uh musical performances by local students, and they're you know, it it's it's sort of the theme of the whole event. Everybody every single recipient, every honoree from every district would be the first one to say it's all about the kids, uh, which is why they're being honored. And so we really wanted to take the opportunity to highlight anytime. I think even the table mats uh, you know, for the dinner that we have are, you know, printouts of student artwork. And uh we'll we'll have student art on display, and then we try to have a uh jazz ensemble from from uh you know, and something you're familiar with from from one of our districts uh play for the dinner, and then um usually a choral performance and uh during the ceremony of the national anthem or an NJRT R O T C you know uh salute to the flag and things like that.

Final School-Year Message For Staff

So yeah, it's a real celebration. So once again, that is on the Fox Theater website, but it's the ceremony actually begins at 6:30 inside the Hanford Fox Theater. You're gonna want to get there early to get a good seat to cheer on your favorite uh educator, but uh it's gonna be a fun event. Todd, I want to thank you for coming on the show. And do you have some closing words for the school year for all the people in Kings County?

Well, it's uh you know, it's it's April and uh and you know the the last you know c you know few weeks of school are are upon us, and uh we always say it every year that it, you know, it it seems like it comes up really fast, but it does, and that's and that's how life is. And um, we just want to thank all the staff who are showing up for the kids every day and um and improving their lives. You never know how you can impact the life of a of a of a student. And it sometimes it's sometimes it's the big events and it's the big things, or it's the you know, curricular success that they see, but sometimes it's just a kind word. It's so uh humbling to be uh work with so many people who are just so dedicated to improving the lives of students. So just really thankful and uh thank you for everybody who uh who is participating. Thank you so much, Todd.

Baseball And Softball Roundup

And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.

We'll start with baseball where the Sierra Pacific baseball team split a crucial series with Kingsburg last week to remain in a tie for first place in the Tri-County Kings League standings. Tuesday's game at Kingsburg saw LSU Signee and MLB's 30th ranked prospect, Jensen Hirschkorn, shut down the Golden Bears, tossing six shutout innings, striking out 13 as the Vikings took the first game of the week 4-0. Thursday at home, it was Sierra Pacific's chance to show their ace as Caleb Coolwine tossed a complete game shutout, only allowing four hits and striking out nine in the one-to-nothing Sierra Pacific win. The Golden Bears sit at 13-8 on the year, six and two in league, with a pair of games versus Washington Union this week. The Hanford High baseball team was the victor in their crosstown non-league matchup with Hanford West last week, as a five-run Bullpup fifth inning proved to be the difference in the 7-4 Hanford High win. Wednesday versus Mission Oak, the offense came to life as the Bullpups erupted for 17 runs in a 17-9 win over the Hawks to improve their league record to 5-2. Hanford High also played at Mission Oak on Friday, but no scores reported from that game. The Bullpups will see Lamore this week for two games. As for the Hanford West baseball team, aside from the loss to Hanford High, the Huskies dropped both games of their series with Exeter last week to fall to 9-11 on the year, 3-5 in league play with two games versus Selma on the schedule this week. Over to Softball now, where the Hanford High softball team played two games that saw a lot of runs scored, going 1-1 in last week's action. Wednesday's matchup versus Tularary Union saw the tribe offense explode in a 17-5 win. The Bullpups offense would wake up later in the week, though, trailing 12-4 after four innings versus Tulary Western. Hanford High would score 11 of the final 13 runs of the game, holding off a late Mustang rally for the 15-14 win. That was the first league win of the year for the Bullpups, who now sit at 1-2 in WIL play and 6-12 overall. At Mission Oak and home versus Lamore on this week's schedule for the Bullpubs. The Sierra Pacific softball team also split their two games last week, a 14-3 run rule victory over Washington Union on Tuesday, and an 8-1 loss to Readley on Friday, their first league loss of the year. The Golden Bears are right at 500 11-11 and 1 on the year, with a 3-1 mark in league play and games with Hanford West and Exeter coming up this week. And the Hanford West softball team fell in both of their games last week, a 3-2 defeat to Kerman on Tuesday and a run rule loss to Kingsburg on Friday. Despite the losses, senior LSU signee Carmen Vasquez has been stellar at the dish, leading the league in home runs on base percentage, RBI, and slugging. At 10-11 overall and 2-2 in league play, but having dropped nine of their last 12 games, the Huskies will hope Carmen's offensive firepower provides a spark in the win column with Games versus Sierra Pacific and a manual this week. As always, if you have a score report or a team update for any team in any sport at any level, you can let us know by emailing HanfordInsider at gmail.com. I'm Eric Bentley, and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week's show. If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to show your support, you can go to buymeaconfe.com or slash Hanford Insider to make a donation, or you can Venmo me. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop on my website at HanfordInsider.com to sign up for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week. Also need to help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media, or like most people, just telling a friend. For more information about the show, you can find this podcast on Facebook, Instagram, ThreadsX, and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email Email me at HanfordInsider at gmail.com and I'll look into it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.