BBCC expands ag opportunities in 2025
A photo of the Viking Lounge and admin office at the BBCC campus. The lounge is a place where students can gather for a variety of purposes, but it isn’t always full. Often, students are busy with coursework elsewhere on campus as they work to earn degrees or certificates in agriculture, medical or technical fields.
CALEB PEREZ/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Big Bend Community College finished construction on its new greenhouse during the summer just in time for fall classes to take advantage of the new facility. BBCC Ag Professor Aaron Mahoney said this has been a great asset to the ag programs at the college in just the few months they’ve had it.
MOSES LAKE – 2025 was an important year for Big Bend Community College as they experienced significant growth all around the facility.
“What I want the public to know is all of the great work that’s happening at the college,” said BBCC President Sarah Thompson Tweedy during an earlier interview in June.
This year, Big Bend had the largest graduating class in program history with a total of 663 graduates, including 172 Running Start graduates. All told, BBCC graduates earned 685 degrees, 41 of which were Bachelor of Applied Science Management degrees. Those figures represented an increase from 2024, which saw 589 graduates with 126 Running Start students, for a total of 613 degrees, 20 for the BAS Management degree.
BBCC also added its second bachelor's degree in 2025 with the BAS in Behavioral Health in partnership with Wenatchee Valley College. This program began in the fall and builds upon any associate degree by adding junior and senior year courses focused on behavioral health.
“It really was developed in a response to the needs of the community,” said Anne Ghinazzi, Director of Title V and other grants at Big Bend. “Local employers told us that they needed more bachelor-prepared workers and the students were seeking the higher education option within the community.”
The 2025 nursing graduates achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination. The perfect pass rate marked the eighth time in the past nine years that BBCC nursing graduates have made this achievement.
“Our graduates have worked very hard to reach this goal and we are so proud to see them contributing to the healthcare in our communities,” said Katherine Christian, BBCC Director of Allied Health Programs, in November following the release of the final scores.
Big Bend Professor Lindsay Groce earned the title of STEM Champion of the Year at the NCW Tech Alliance’s 24th Annual Innovator Awards Luncheon in Wenatchee in November. Groce was recognized for her dedication to expanding access and belonging in STEM through mentorship, outreach and the creation of programs such as STEMposium.
“I’m very proud of the work we’ve done for our students and this recognition for the energy put into support our STEM students means so very much to me,” said Groce after receiving the award.
Dustin Regul, an art instructor at Big Bend, was featured in the Saranac Art Projects gallery in Spokane with his show entitled “rifts & margins," which he said explores liminal spaces between established reality and undiscovered potential.
The college saw multiple updates to the campus, with the quad receiving renovations and a new Transfer and Career Center in April. The center acts as a hub for students to find assistance with transferring to other higher education institutions and to receive career support.
Construction of the new greenhouse for agriculture programs was also finished just before the start of the school year in the fall and has allowed students to work with crops and run tests through the winter that they normally couldn’t.
The ag program also received a $30,000 seed donation from Eric Williamson of Williamson Farms, Inc in Quincy. Agriculture Professor Aaron Mahoney said the donation consisted of seeds used locally.
The donation worked in conjunction with the greenhouse by increasing the number and variety of crops students can work with. Mahoney said the students can now test different kinds of growing techniques.
“A big part of that for me is just so they get comfortable working with plants,” he said in August. “The more plants they get to look at, the more that they can grasp the idea of the agronomy side of things.”
Another addition to the ag program was the launch of the new Agriculture Mechanics training certificate. This was in direct response to the high demand for agricultural mechanics in Eastern Washington.
“This program equips students with hands-on experience and technical skills that are essential to supporting the evolving needs of local employers,” said Michelle Morley, BBCC Dean of Workforce Education, in August.
Big Bend Community College finished construction on its new greenhouse during the summer just in time for fall classes to take advantage of the new facility. BBCC Ag Professor Aaron Mahoney said this has been a great asset to the ag programs at the college in just the few months they’ve had it.