New trustee joins board at Big Bend Community College

MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College on Tuesday announced Amy Parris as a new trustee, replacing Stephen McFadden, who resigned after taking a job with the Port of Pasco in the Tri-Cities. Gov. Jay Inslee confirmed the appointment last week.

Parris works for the Othello School District as director of school to career, and worked as a counselor in the Othello schools for more than 20 years. Parris was also on the search committee recommending hiring of current BBCC President Sara Thompson Tweedy.

“I’m kind of excited, it’s something new, something challenging,” Parris told the Columbia Basin Herald.

Parris said she really respects Tweedy’s desire to see a lot more students from Adams County attending BBCC.

“There are not a lot of Othello kids at Big Bend,” she said. “We’re looking at partnerships and services and ways to expand that.”

In her current job, Parris said she is responsible for helping students figure out what they intend to do once they graduate from high school.

“Everybody needs some post-secondary education,” she said. “But not everybody needs to go to college.”

Parris said while she worked closely with McFadden when he was both a trustee and head of the Adams County Development Council, she really didn’t have any desire to become a trustee on her own until the position became open.

“It kind of all worked out, and it will meet the needs of a lot of our families out here,” she said.

According to a statement from BBCC, Parris participated remotely in a brief special Board of Trustees session Monday and will attend her first regular board meeting on Oct. 28.