Royal's Villafana speaker at banquet
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 8 months AGO
The Royal Register News
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 24, 2015 6:00 AM
MOSES LAKE - Seven people who beat the challenges they faced on the road to college were recently honored by the Big Bend Community College trustees at the "Transforming Lives" banquet.
Aryan Dehbozorgi, Tabatha Delong, Alicia Wallace, Maribel Gomez-Aguilar, Arnoldo Garcia, Lupe Campos and Emmanuel Garcia faced rough going in their paths to college but made it anyway, said Doug Sly, a college spokesperson.
"In recent years trustees have had difficulty naming a 'winner' for the Transforming Lives award," Sly said. "The personal stories are so compelling that trustees struggled to pick one over the rest to represent BBCC at a recognition event in Olympia."
As a result the trustees decided in 2014 to host a banquet to recognize all the nominees, Sly said.
Diana Villafana, BBCC Student Success Center coordinator, was the keynote speaker. She grew up in Royal City and came from a household that spoke only Spanish. She completed a bachelor's degree in social work in 2012.
"My biggest accomplishment is breaking the typical education cycle that most Latinos fall into," she told the audience.
Some of the nominees are the first in their family to graduate from high school and to attend college Sly noted. Others overcame a troubled past and used education and the support they received at BBCC to transform their lives.
The nominees, their family and friends, were joined by trustees, BBCC President Terry Leas, the college's vice-presidents and deans.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Moses Lake School District, teachers union reach tentative agreement
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Education Association announced late Friday night that the union has reached a tentative agreement with the Moses Lake School District. Classes will resume Monday, according to a press release from the MLEA.
Priest Rapids Dam oil spill still in cleanup stage
MATTAWA — People downstream of Priest Rapids Dam are being asked to look for evidence of oil on the waters of the Columbia River following a spill of mineral oil at the dam Wednesday. Department of Ecology officials are asking boaters to stay off the river between Priest Rapids and Pasco while crews work to clean up the oil, according to a PUD press release. Absorbent booms were put in the water to collect the oil downstream of the dam and are still there, said Christine Pratt, public information officer with the Grant County PUD, in the PUD press release. The booms will stay there until the Department of Ecology allows their removal.
Royal SD voters to decide on educational programs and operations levy in February
ROYAL CITY — Royal School District voters will be asked to accept or reject a two-year educational programs and operations levy request in a special election Feb. 10. If it’s approved, it would replace the district’s existing levy approved by voters in 2024. Royal Superintendent Roger Trail said the levy rate would remain unchanged.