Students in Butler County Community College’s early childhood education associate degree program are shown Monday, March 17, 2025, in the new Dr. Robert L. Paserba Teaching and Learning Lab on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Prospective students and their families can explore the college’s hands-on learning facilities and programs during Pioneer Night, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on BC3’s main campus. Submitted photo
Prospective students and their families can explore the latest hands-on learning environments at Butler County Community College, examine two-year associate degree and short-term certificate programs and discover how they can minimize or avoid higher education debt during Pioneer Night on Wednesday, April 9.
The college will waive its $25 application fee during the event, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. on BC3’s main campus, 107 College Drive, Butler Township. Prospective students can RSVP at bc3.edu/open-house.
Prospective students envisioning a career in education can tour the 1,735-square-foot Dr. Robert L. Paserba Teaching and Learning Lab that debuted March 17. The lab’s centerpiece replicates an elementary school classroom and allows for students to experiment with lesson plans, desk groupings and material layouts.
“I like that BC3 is taking that hands-on approach because it will really help,” said Emily Eichner, a 20-year-old early childhood education (Pre K-4) student from Saxonburg. “It gives us that experience. We can actually take what we learn and apply it ourselves instead of just seeing and hearing about it.”
From left, Maddy Fields, Madelyn Kolarosky and Natalie Volek, students in Butler County Community College’s early childhood education (Pre K-4) associate degree program, react Monday, March 17, 2025, upon entering for the first time the new Dr. Robert L. Paserba Teaching and Learning Lab on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Prospective students and their families can explore the college’s hands-on learning facilities and programs during Pioneer Night, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on BC3’s main campus. Submitted photo
Those seeking a career in health care can visit the 25,000-square-foot Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building that opened in August 2023. The facility includes skills laboratories and affords students with hands-on experience through simulated intensive care-unit and patient rooms.
Prospective students can learn about BC3’s programs in business and information technology; education and behavioral sciences; liberal arts; the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health; and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Annabel Schaffner, left, a student in Butler County Community College’s measurement science-metrology technology associate degree program, is shown with an optical comparator and BC3 professor Kevin Ruediger on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, in a lab on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Prospective students and their families can explore the college’s hands-on learning facilities and programs during Pioneer Night, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on BC3’s main campus. Submitted photo
BC3 students and faculty will be available at Pioneer Night to discuss with guests the benefits of practical experiences in a number of programs, according to Amy Pignatore, dean of admissions and the college registrar.
“They will showcase those opportunities and the different programs that we have here at BC3,” Pignatore said. “It’s not just the theoretical. It is the application of book learning or the classroom experience.”
Students can transfer BC3’s credits toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities. Students in BC3’s career programs can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
Pioneer Night guests also can inquire about the college’s student clubs, organizations and activities; support services such as free tutoring; and athletics programs.
Registered students beginning Tuesday, April 15, can apply for a scholarship for the 2025-26 academic year at bc3.edu/scholarships.
Nickalaus Ayres, center, a student in Butler County Community College’s park and recreation management associate degree program, pursues national wildland firefighting credentials during a controlled burn exercise Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, on a remote tract BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Prospective students and their families can explore the college’s hands-on learning facilities and programs during Pioneer Night, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on BC3’s main campus. Submitted photo
Logan McKissick, a student in Butler County Community College’s massage therapy workplace certificate program, is shown Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, in a massage lab in the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building that opened a month earlier on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Prospective students and their families can explore the college’s hands-on learning facilities and programs during Pioneer Night, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on BC3’s main campus. Submitted photo
Kristine Kenny, foreground, an assistant professor in Butler County Community College’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health, views students in a patient simulation room Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building that opened earlier that month on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Prospective students and their families can explore the college’s hands-on learning facilities and programs during Pioneer Night, scheduled for 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on BC3’s main campus. Submitted photo
Bill Foley is the coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
