{"id":452223,"date":"2026-09-03T13:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T13:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/452223\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T13:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T13:14:19","slug":"now-is-our-time-to-do-our-part-community-forum-discusses-path-forward-after-independence-hs-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/452223\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Now is our time to do our part\u2019: Community forum discusses path forward after Independence HS shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 It\u2019s been over a week since the shooting at Independence High School took the life of 17-year-old Levi Brown.<\/p>\n

Days later, a shaken community is trying to come together to discuss the best ways to move forward and protect kids. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have a solution tonight. We might, I don\u2019t know,\u201d said forum organizer Desirae Wiley. \u201cBut we are going to talk about everything, all our concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Worship Center of Bakersfield usually holds a little more than a hundred people come Sunday service but for Monday night\u2019s forum, its chairs were filled \u2014 not with churchgoers but with community members looking for solutions.<\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\tWatch 17 News, After Sunrise and more local news free on your smart TV. Click to learn more about KGET+\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we can come away with some actionable steps that we can start even with our young children, with our teenagers, different programs. We can connect them with,\u201d said teacher Michelle Johnson.<\/p>\n

From nonprofits looking to lend a hand to single-parent families to attendees putting together a baseball game for young children, emotions and discussions filled the crowded room.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest topics of discussion: how to keep kids off the street and out of gangs.<\/p>\n

Some said parents need to step up to keep their children out of trouble and others blame social media and pop culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at the statistics of students in their high school districts, we see that literacy rates are significantly low,\u201d said Cal State Bakersfield student Nevaeh Louis Williams Cardenas.<\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\tNew details revealed about shooting at Independence High School sparks outrage\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Terra Johnson, the executive director of Agapeland Christian Academy, said change starts at the \u201cgrassroots.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNow is our time to do our part. Just like history showed that when community came together, change was made,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

The group plans on attending the next Kern High School District board meeting on Sept. 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 It\u2019s been over a week since the shooting at Independence High School took the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-452223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}