(Ford City, PA) Kayla Lamison was so moved by the vigilant neonatal intensive care unit registered nurses who attended to her twins born at 26 weeks that she envisioned becoming one herself.
“The nurses were amazing,” Lamison said. “They did everything they needed to do to keep my sons alive.”
Noah weighed 2.7 pounds at birth. One minute later, Dakota was born at 2.4 pounds.
Noah spent 58 days in the neonatal intensive care unit of a Pittsburgh hospital and Dakota, 108.
Noah and Dakota turned 3 in February.
The 32-year-old single mother has begun her pursuit of a career “helping save babies’ lives and watching them grow healthy to go home with their loved ones” at BC3 @ Armstrong because, she said, “it is a brand-new facility and it is close to home” in Kittanning.
“I also want to help give parents a positive outlook and advice because I know personally what the NICU life feels like,” she said.
“I want to further my education so my sons have a better future. I want them to look up to me as a role model and see that you can do anything you put your mind to.”
“It’s such a remarkable opportunity to encourage the dreams of these students who are trying hard to succeed in so many ways. Watching them succeed in their classes to pursue those dreams is very rewarding.”
“Meet the people who can help them”
Lamison is a health care science student at BC3 @ Armstrong, which will showcase its 15,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility during an open house from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 3.
Prospective students can learn about BC3 @ Armstrong’s affordability and its associate degree programs during the open house at 1100 Fourth Ave., Ford City.
BC3 @ Armstrong will waive its $25 application fee for prospective students who apply for admission at the open house. Prospective students can RSVP at bc3.edu/open-house
Guests attending BC3 @ Armstrong’s open house can also meet faculty and staff, tour the $6.5 million facility that opened in March 2023, and learn about support services, financial aid options and resources such as free tutoring.
“Our open houses give prospective students the opportunity to explore, to meet the people who can help them to begin their educational journey and start down that pathway toward really achieving their dreams,” said Morgan Rizzardi, BC3’s director of admissions.
Karen Zapp, the director of BC3 @ Armstrong, is one of those people to meet, Lamison said.
“She will go above and beyond to help you with anything you need,” Lamison said. “Everyone loves her. She makes you want to go and feel welcome at the school.”
Said Zapp: “It’s such a remarkable opportunity to encourage the dreams of these students who are trying hard to succeed in so many ways. Watching them succeed in their classes to pursue those dreams is very rewarding.”
BC3 @ Armstrong enrollment rises
Enrollment at BC3 @ Armstrong has increased 25 percent since the new facility opened, according to Sharla Anke, BC3’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
Lamison enrolled at BC3 @ Armstrong last fall.
“I thought I was going to be the oldest one there,” she said.
Lamison is among the nearly 15 percent of BC3 students this spring who are at least 30, according to Becky Smith, the college’s director of records and registration.
BC3 @ Armstrong includes, among other areas, up to six classroom spaces, a natural science laboratory and student meeting areas, and architectural features such as a tan slatted wall, white geometric-shaped panels and asymmetrical blue chairs with USB ports.
Lamison said she is impressed by BC3 @ Armstrong’s “colors, and how nice the building is inside and out.”
BC3’s affordability, and financial aid and scholarships, allowed 75 percent of the college’s Class of 2023 to graduate debt-free.
Armstrong County residents attending BC3 @ Armstrong this spring are paying $290 per credit in tuition and fees for an in-person course. They would pay at least $437.23 per credit in tuition and fees at a regional public four-year university or $582 at a regional state-related institution’s branch campus this spring.
BC3 students approved for federal and state grants will receive an average of $5,046 in the 2023-2024 academic year, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of financial aid.
The BC3 Education Foundation in the 2023-2024 academic year had available a record 155 scholarships that ranged in amounts from $300 to $5,000, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, development coordinator with the BC3 Education Foundation.
Students registered for fall 2024 academic courses can apply online for a scholarship from the BC3 Education Foundation beginning April 15.
“I feel great about my decision. BC3 @ Armstrong is wonderful.”
“BC3 @ Armstrong is wonderful”
Lamison is a 2010 graduate of Kittanning Senior High School. She intends to apply to BC3’s selective-admissions Nursing, R.N., career program held on the college’s main campus upon completing health care science courses at BC3 @ Armstrong and online from BC3.
“I feel great about my decision. BC3 @ Armstrong,” Lamison said, “is wonderful. All the professors are very nice and so helpful.”
Health care science had the highest enrollment of BC3 associate degree programs as of Jan. 31, according to Anke.
BC3’s credits can be applied 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.
BC3 has been ranked as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania nine times since 2015, most recently for 2024 by BestColleges.com.
The college’s summer session begins May 13 and its fall semester, Aug. 26.
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BC3 @ Armstrong ribbon-cutting ceremony and community grand opening
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Community grand opening to showcase new BC3 @ Armstrong facility in Ford City
