Locals recognized for contributions to STEM

WENATCHEE — Three locals were honored at the NCW Tech Alliance Awards ceremony last week. Quincy High School student Gerardo Guerrero and Big Bend Community College Professor of Chemistry Lindsay Groce received the K-12 Future Technology Leader and STEM Champion of the Year awards, respectively. Cooper Cox, BBCC alumnus and current Washington State University student, was a finalist for the STEM College Innovator of the Year.  

“The field of nominations that came in this year was incredible. It was so incredible,” said NCW Tech Alliance CEO Sue Kane as the awards ceremony commenced. “Each one was a story of creativity and collaboration and heart. Each category was filled with people who are meaningfully making a difference.”  

Kane said even whittling down the nominations to come up with a short list of finalists was difficult. Five awards were given out in total, with Guerrero and Groce coming out on top in their categories. Fitting with NCW Tech Alliance’s goal of bringing people and technology together to support entrepreneurs, STEM education and technology adoption in North Central Washington, the awards recognized students at the high school and college levels who stand out among their peers, educators who help students move forward in STEM fields, and businesses just entering the market or paving the way for others to follow from a technology standpoint.  

Guerrero was the first to receive an award during the ceremony. His competition included the Blue Origin Project Managers student group out of Icicle River Middle School, who work with Blue Origin to examine the idea of colonizing space, and Evan Lagunas of Wenatchee High School, who interned with the school’s IT department and provided tech support to keep the district operating smoothly.  

Guerrero’s nomination focused on his coding and hardware skills. He programmed a four-level video game from scratch using the Godot engine to combine advanced coding, UX design — a design process focused on ease of access for users — and hardware knowledge. Guerrero also served as a Tech Camp leader, helping less-experienced students learn to code, and scored a perfect score on his Advanced Placement Computer Science exam. In a video highlighting his nomination, one of his teachers said Guerrero had learned Godot outside of the classroom and that getting a perfect score on the AP exam was “very, very, very, very hard to do.”  

Guerrero thanked his teachers during his acceptance speech, but focused on his family extensively as he expressed gratitude.  

“I’d like to thank my parents, Hortense Guerrero and Eliseo Guerrero," he said. “Even though they don’t fully understand what I’ve been doing, and just see me gone from home quite often, they’ve always been supportive and never made me feel shy to pursue my dreams. Without my parents’ support, I would not be up here.”  

He also thanked his brothers for their support as he worked on projects. Guerrero said he hopes to one day become an indie video game designer.  

Groce was a finalist alongside Chelan High School science teacher April Slagle and the AeroTEC Team, led by Justin Morigeau and Whitney Herrud. Slagle earned finalist recognition by connecting classroom learning to real-world impacts found through regional partnerships. AeroTEC, based in Moses Lake, partners with local schools to strengthen STEM education.  

Groce received the award based on her work with the STEMinists Club for Women, for the STEMPosium and for leading cross-institutional initiatives and integrating the humanities into science education to help spread STEM knowledge.  

Carrie Nordberg, a physician recruiter and community outreach specialist at Samaritan Healthcare, as well as the 2024 STEM Champion of the Year recipient, announced the finalists and winner for this year’s award.  

“Being recognized as the STEM champion is such an honor,” Nordberg said. “It’s a recognition of the many ways individuals across our region are shaping the future of STEM, whether in classrooms, colleges, labs or community spaces. These champions are creating hands-on learning experiences and opening doors for students to explore, grow and lead.”  

Groce showed an appreciation for the field she works in each day.  

“Science is magic,” she said during a video recognizing all the finalists. “I’m most proud of what has turned into the STEMPosium, which is a celebration of undergraduate research in STEM fields. It’s so exciting to see, and it’s so fun the way that they lean into it and embody kind of what it is to be a scientist and the joy and the curiosity of it.”  

During her acceptance, Groce said she’s been at BBCC for about 13 years. She expressed gratitude for the award as well as for fellow STEM educators, saying they are all leaders.  

“I found my place amongst the Math Science Division, who are in equal parts ... silly and brilliant and lovely and creative, and put students at the heart of all we do. They are all champions,” Groce said. “Big Bend has allowed me the freedom to try new things, to innovate, and has supported me in these experiments.”  

Cox was a finalist in the STEM College Innovator of the Year award after serving as a TRIO STEM Mentor, working to set up peer-to-peer supports for first-generation students that integrate technical advising, tutoring and resource sharing.  

Cox’s competition was fierce with Dillon Cornelius and Juan Martinez, students at Wenatchee Valley College, establishing an electromechanical control system for Dryden Dam alongside Chelan Public Utility District engineers. Alongside Cornelius and Martinez in the finalist list was Emma McCabe from Central Washington University, who designed a low-cost prosthetic foot protector through a full design-build-test process to ensure ease of access and maintenance for patients needing prosthetics. 

While Cornelius and Martinez won the award, BBCC President Sarah Thompson Tweedy said Cox represented the community well alongside Groce and Guerrero.  

“Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. Lindsey Groce, Gerardo Guerrero and Cooper Cox remind us that when passion meets purpose, remarkable things follow. Their achievements are a beacon and we celebrate and are proud of them,” Thompson Tweedy said. 

    Quincy High School’s Gerardo Guerrero expressed appreciation for the support of his family and his teachers during his acceptance speech for the Future Technology Leader of the Year award.
  

    Lindsay Groce received the STEM Champion of the Year Award during the NCW Tech Alliance’s annual awards ceremony last week. She is a chemistry professor at Big Bend Community College and has worked to ensure access to STEM education during her time there, which spans about 13 years.