Ann Cierley: A Bakersfield High (1948) and UCLA (1952) graduate, Cierley returned to Bakersfield in 1975 to coach the Academic Decathlon and speech and debate teams at West. She led the Vikings to 10 consecutive and 16 out of 20 Kern County championships. The 1982 speech and debate team won the state title. Cierley was principal at West from 1981 to 1992. She passed away March 20, 2019.