PASCO, Wash. – Columbia Basin College (CBC) received a $3.25 million philanthropic gift from Battelle to establish the ‘Community STEM Learning Center’ on its campus. The center aims to provide hands-on STEM opportunities for the Tri-Cities community.
CBC President Dr. Rebekah Woods shared her excitement about the project.
“It’s never too early to help expose a young person to the possibilities that exist in STEM fields. And so many students just don’t know what’s out there,” Dr. Woods said.
Woods explained that Battelle and CBC have been collaborating to expand STEM opportunities for everyone in the area. The new center will provide students, families, educators and the broader community with hands-on STEM experiences.
The funds will be used for staffing, equipment, and renovating the designated building for the center.
“We do have an existing facility that we have designated to be the STEM center. It’s been vacant for quite some time. It’s just kind of been a swing space for ourselves and for community uses as well. So we’ll be using some of the funding to get that building renovated, refurbished, and up to where it needs to be to actually be this center,” Woods said.
The building offers open spaces and classrooms, with one potentially being transformed into a technology room.
“We are so honored and humbled that Battelle trusted Columbia Basin College to be at the forefront of the development of this center and to host this center on our campus,” Woods said.
The project is still in the planning phase, so there is no estimated opening date for the center.
Battelle has been managing Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy for almost 60 years.
