A forward-focused Butler County institution pauses this week to take a look back and celebrate its roots.

Butler County Community College celebrated its 50th anniversary with a founders day convocation Tuesday at its Butler Township campus. Students, alumni, faculty and community members recalled memories and opportunities given to them at BC3, while listing the school’s major milestones, all to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the college receiving its charter on March 3, 1965.

The school has been observing its jubilee with several events during the school year, including the production of a video of the main campus, featuring overhead vistas shot from a drone; dress-up through the decades events; and participating in Butler’s Spirit of Christmas parade in November.

Tuesday’s convocation featured six speakers, each representing a different decade of the school’s existence. They talked about their BC3 experience and how the school positioned them for productive lives and careers.

The earliest, Lucille Shapiro, remembered the mud and plank walkways of a campus still under construction. Now a BC3 Education Foundation board member and sponsor of two scholarships, Shapiro also remembers the excitement of launching her postsecondary academic career close to home on a new campus.

The five other speakers — Rosemary Keasey, BC3 dean of business; Kim Geyer, a BC3 board trustees; professors Mike Aikens, Chris Calhoun; and current student Hunter Green, student president of the BC3 executive council — offered their perspectives on a campus that seems to have grown steadily and exponentially throughout its existence.

And it has grown. There were 431 students enrolled that fall semester in 1966, Today there are nearly 20,000 students spread across the main campus and four satellite facilities, enrolled in credit, noncredit and professional development classes.

Another of the things BC3 is doing to mark its anniversary is to have all students, faculty and staff to keep track of their hours of volunteer community service for the year. The counting will continue through Sept. 1 with a goal of 50,000 hours. That breaks down to about 50 volunteer hours per person. By any measure it’s a significant contribution.

The BC3 Make It Count campaign is representative of what the school has grown to become: a major contributor to the lifeblood that maintains Butler County and the entire region; an academic and cultural anchor for the community; a training center for vital local careers and industries; a launchpad for academic pursuits.

There’s a phrase that provides very fitting description of BC3’s first 50 years. The phrase is “off to a pretty good start.” Let’s see what the next 50 years brings.