NWACC Student Scholarship Funds Raised at Annual Soiree

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The 2025 Plant-a-Seed Soiree, hosted by the NWACC Foundation and emceed by KNWA’s Jaclyn House, raised approximately $125,205 for NorthWest Arkansas Community College student scholarships. The sold-out benefit took place on Friday, May 2, 2025 at Heroncrest Event Center in Springdale.

Over the course of the 2024-25 academic year, the NWACC Foundation awarded more than $230,000 in scholarships to a total of 220 students.

NWACC Foundation Board President Mat Mozzoni told those attending the soiree about Ari, a student who was undocumented and found her scholarship transformational. 

Ari began to feel left out when her classmates began having conversations about FAFSA, Federal Student Aid, because she knew those resources weren’t available to her. But once she received a Foundation scholarship, that changed everything, he said. Ari became the first in her family to graduate high school and now she’s the first in her family to graduate college. 

“As Ari put it so perfectly, ‘It wasn’t just financial help, it was validation, it was hope,’” Mozzoni said. “It was someone saying ‘I see you, I believe in you.’” 

Thanks to that NWACC Foundation scholarship and Ari’s hard work and persistence, she became a pediatric nurse and has spent the past four years giving back to the community. 

“This evening is not just about raising dollars, it’s about futures changed,” Mozzoni said. “About creating opportunity, not just for today, but for years to come. The seeds of education we plant today will bear fruit of stronger families and better communities tomorrow.” 

Liz Anderson, Executive Director of Advancement and the NWACC Foundation, said community is an apt descriptor of both the college and the foundation’s purpose, not only because it’s in their names, but because it so accurately describes the feeling of fellowship and belonging among those at NWACC.

“Each of us in the room here tonight has the best interest of our students in mind,” Anderson said.  “We value education because we know that it affords a pathway for so many to create a better life for themselves and their families.” 

Dick Trammel gave the very first scholarship at NWACC when he helped a young, single dad in the registration line, Anderson said. That can-do spirit is still alive and stronger than ever in burgeoning programs and the sense of belonging hard to miss in classrooms all over campus.

“When I look around the room tonight, I see that community,” Anderson said. “A community with shared interests and values, a community in which we all belong, a community with aspirational goals and the courage to act. A community that supports one another.” 

Rachel Schaap, an NWACC nursing student who would soon graduate, shared her personal experiences on stage at the soiree. 

Schaap said she had been interested in nursing since she was 15, due to seeing her grandmother endure a third round of cancer treatments and Hospice care. Having two older siblings go to NWACC gave her an interest in the community college and a good idea of what her educational experience could be like. 

“I knew (NWACC) had the early college education program where high school students can go and get their foot in the door on careers,” Schaap said. She first entered the certified nursing assistant program as a junior in high school and gained a valuable mentor along the way. “Lynette Bennett I’m still in touch with to this day. She’s been an incredible mentor for me all these years going into nursing.”

Thanks to on-site clinical rotations, where students gain valuable experience at a variety of facilities in the region, Schaap discovered a love for critical care and will soon begin working at Washington Regional ICU.

NWACC President Dr. Dennis C. Rittle said the 2024-25 academic year was a notable one. The college opened a trails construction program that is a first-of-its-kind in the U.S., and it has seen overflowing enrollment; it began Artificial Intelligence workforce training, which has seen packed classes; and opened The Butcher’s Larder, a student-operated butcher shop at Brightwater, he said. 

“We’ve unveiled a jaw-dropping, state-of-the-art, no-holds-barred campus master plan for the Bentonville campus,” Rittle said, thanking Lake Flato Architects for its design services and the Walton Family Foundation for the design grant that funded the plan’s creation. “They’re magnificent partners, as all of you are. Thank you so much for your kindness and for helping us to look to a future that is brilliant, bright and many times very humbling.”

The past academic year also brought big challenges, such as tornado damage to campus buildings in May 2025 just two days before the summer semester began. 

Despite that, “the college managed to set historic enrollment records in headcount and it saw growth in every demographic area that we measure with an astounding 28% enrollment increase in workforce training,” Rittle said. 

NWACC launched its track program this spring and women’s cross-country team earned national academic All-American Honors with a collective GPA higher than 3.5. In April NWACC student esports athlete Jared Astle won the NJCAAE Tier 2 Mario Kart National Championship defeating the competition in the Grand Finals with a clean sweep. 

On May 19 NWACC announced the hiring of its inaugural head soccer coaches. Dean Johnson will head men’s soccer and Nick Marquez will head women’s soccer. Both will start at the college on July 26. Next for Eagles Athletics is the launch of the field program in the fall.

Looking to the near future, NWACC is investing more in microcredentials, a way to help students upskill, reskill or build baseline skills.

About NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC):
NWACC is an accredited, public two-year institution that serves and strengthens its surrounding communities by helping students maximize their potential and exceed expectations. With state-of-the-art facilities, NWACC provides excellent academic instruction, workforce training and personalized attention from highly respected faculty, staff and administrators. For more information about NWACC, visit www.nwacc.edu.

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