Mr. Sardó was born and raised in New York City. Upon graduation from Power Memorial Academy in Midtown Manhattan in 1973, he came to California to attend Fresno Pacific University where he majored in Biology. After graduation he interviewed throughout the state for teaching jobs and accepted a position with the Kern High School District at West High School.
The journey as an educator began in 1975, while still in college, Mr. Sardó worked as an Instructional Aide at Roosevelt High School in Fresno in an Algebra class. He later did his required observations, student teaching, and also taught Summer School Biology there. On September 6, 1977 he began his career with Kern High School District: accepting a teaching position at West High School and retiring his service with the district, as a principal at Arvin High School, in 2017.
Although retired from the KHSD he is still active as an Adjunct Professor and University Supervisor for CSUB PLNU for the past 30 years. 2025 marks 50 years of involvement in education at the high school or college level.
West High School, in the late seventies, was a great time and place for Mr. Sardó to start his career in education. The school administration, especially Dr. Tom Jones, had set high standards for their school on the fast growing west side of Bakersfield. “West is Best” was more than just a mantra. It was not about looking good, it was about being the best. That meant at all levels including Valley, State, and National. There was great parental and community support for all activities. West High School had many mentors who helped Sardó along the way. His department had strong, dedicated teachers; Mr. Nunes, Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Zeimet supplied most of the contextual support. Biology was always the main course taught but when there were scheduling problems he was asked to help out.
Mr. Sardó was always interested in the field of Counseling. The Counseling staff at West High school was well established with no apparent changes in the near future, so in 1990 he accepted a Counseling position at East Bakersfield High School (1990-1993). Then Principal of EBHS, Bill Hatcher invited him to open a new school, Centennial High School (1993-2011) where he would have a variety of roles. First as the Inaugural Head Counselor, then the Inaugural Dean ofStudent Services and finally Assistant Principal of Instruction. In 2011 he was promoted to be the Principal of Arvin High School (2011-2016). He still gives credit to the strong mentorship he received while at West High that allowed him to succeed in those other roles. Those mentors extended into the coaching role, learning about various aspects from veteran coaches. His first team was frosh-soph softball, where he worked with Fred Laningham, then basketball working with RB Lauria, and finally track and field with Jim Wren. All of them contributed to obtaining the necessary skill to run his own program: soccer.
In 1977 when he arrived at West High there was no soccer program. Soccer was a CIF sport throughout the Central Valley but not in Bakersfield. Mr. Sardó started a recreational club team in 1978 that competed with other schools that lacked soccer. While no competitive program existed, the community had started youth leagues (AYSO) and parents were interested in seeing their students continue to play in high school. Community fundraising made it possible to start the sport at every school in Bakersfield and the surrounding communities.
Finally in 1982 soccer became an official high school sport in Bakersfield. Immediately, as expected, West High School was very competitive and in contention for every league title through the 1980’s and into the 1990’s. In 1984 Mr. Sardó had the opportunity to take the new soccer program to play internationally through the Bakersfield-Wakiyama Sister City program in Japan. Again there was tremendous community support for the experience. The 1987 boys team was the first in Kern County to win a Valley Championship in soccer and they topped the season off by going undefeated. They would repeat winning the Valley in 1990, Sardó’s last year at West High School. While West continued to have success in soccer, the 1987 West High Soccer Undefeated Valley Championship will always stand out as a remarkable accomplishment.
