As a new academic year approaches, UA Cossatot wants to encourage high school students to visit with a UA Cossatot Career Coach. UA Cossatot Career Coaches work within high schools and provide several services to help secondary students get ahead. UA Cossatot currently employs four Career Coaches within its High School Programs department who are available to help students enrolled at Nashville, Horatio, De Queen, and Ashdown High School.
UA Cossatot’s four Career Coaches include Amy Westfall for Nashville High School, Veronica Ozura for Horatio High School, Gabriela Balderas for De Queen High School, and Kelsey Smith for Ashdown High School.
Career Coaches provide advice, resources, information, and connections to help students in high school plan for college and future careers. They also assist students by helping them identify personal goals and figure out what career or direction would be best for them while educating students about available resources at UA Cossatot. One of these resources includes taking college credit classes in high school at no charge to the student through UA Cossatot.
UA Cossatot High School Programs Director, Julie Rhodes said, “Our Career Coaches are awesome. We are incredibly thankful that they’re working with our local high schools to provide students with these amazing benefits. Many of our current UA Cossatot students chose to take the first step in their post-secondary education due to the efforts of our hard-working Career Coaches.”
After working with UA Cossatot for many years, Amy Westfall became a full-time Career Coach in 2016 for Nashville High School. Amy says, “I love working with people, and in this job, I can help students determine what they might want to be and how to prepare for it. In my job, I tackle concurrent credit forms, college applications, all scholarships, FAFSA applications, college and career fairs, college trips, as well as military and special guest visits to our high school. When working with students, I also put an emphasis on the importance of test scores such as the ACT and ASVAB scores when it comes to planning ahead. I have a unique advantage, working in the junior high and high school setting, and I love that I can promote UA Cossatot for high school services.” Nashville students can contact Amy Westfall at 870-845-3201, ext. 518 or via e-mail at awestfall@cccua.edu.
Before working as a Career Coach, Veronica Ozura worked at UA Cossatot as a College Recruiter/Career Specialist. In that role, she saw the gap in what many high school students knew about how to get to college and prepare for it. As a first-generation student herself, she knew she could relate to the difficulties and also felt that she could help others bridge the gap between high school and college so that more students could achieve their career goals. In 2013, Ozura became a Career Coach for Horatio High School. This past month, Veronica took a new position as a Counselor for Horatio High School, where she will continue to work with the new Career Coach and UA Cossatot students. Veronica says, “As a Career Coach, I was able to build a connection to students and work with them one on one. I love working with students being the liaison between the college world and the high school world. It is the best of both worlds! I look forward to continuing to do that in my new role and as I work alongside the new Career Coach.” Veronica will continue to help students with Career Coach services, until the new Career Coach position has been filled. Horatio students can contact Veronica Ozura at 870-832-1900 or via e-mail at vozura@cccua.edu.
Gabriela Balderas began working as a Career Coach for UA Cossatot in the fall of 2014. Gabriela provides educational services to De Queen students on career and post-secondary planning. Balderas says, “I enjoy working with the students at De Queen High School. I believe we have some of the best students, and I love being able to see them grow from year to year and learn about their aspirations. I also like being able to connect students to resources offered at UA Cossatot while in high school. We have many students that attend
the UA Cossatot Secondary Career Center and many that are doing concurrent credit at the high school. These opportunities allow students to be able to get a head start on earning college credit.” De Queen students can contact Gabriela Balderas at 870-642-2426 or via e-mail at gbalderas@cccua.edu.
In 2019, Kelsey Smith became the first Career Coach for Ashdown High School. In her first year as a Career Coach, Smith has helped provide students with opportunities for job shadowing, mentoring, internships, visits to businesses and industries, as well as other career awareness activities. Kelsey says, “The thing I enjoy about my job the most is getting to work with my students every day. I love coming to work and helping students prepare for a new phase of life. No two people have the same path, and it is so cool to see the students realize their potential while finding fulfillment in their post-secondary choices! My main goal is for my students to feel positive and confident about their post-secondary path!” Ashdown students can contact Kelsey Smith at 870-898-3562, ext. 1007 or via e-mail at ksmith@cccua.edu.
Students can visit with Career Coaches in-person at their high school throughout the year, but they are encouraged to e-mail or call their Career Coach this summer to make preparations for the upcoming fall semester. Students who attend a high school that does not have a UA Cossatot Career Coach can still receive the same services by contacting High School Programs Director, Julie Rhodes at jrhodes@cccua.edu or 870-584-1343
Before working as a Career Coach, Veronica Ozura worked at UA Cossatot as a College Recruiter/Career Specialist. In that role, she saw the gap in what many high school students knew about how to get to college and prepare for it. As a first-generation student herself, she knew she could relate to the difficulties and also felt that she could help others bridge the gap between high school and college so that more students could achieve their career goals. In 2013, Ozura became a Career Coach for Horatio High School. This past month, Veronica took a new position as a Counselor for Horatio High School, where she will continue to work with the new Career Coach and UA Cossatot students. Veronica says, “As a Career Coach, I was able to build a connection to students and work with them one on one. I love working with students being the liaison between the college world and the high school world. It is the best of both worlds! I look forward to continuing to do that in my new role and as I work alongside the new Career Coach.” Veronica will continue to help students with Career Coach services, until the new Career Coach position has been filled. Horatio students can contact Veronica Ozura at 870-832-1900 or via e-mail at vozura@cccua.edu.
After working with UA Cossatot for many years, Amy Westfall became a full-time Career Coach in 2016 for Nashville High School. Amy says, “I love working with people, and in this job, I can help students determine what they might want to be and how to prepare for it. In my job, I tackle concurrent credit forms, college applications, all scholarships, FAFSA applications, college and career fairs, college trips, as well as military and special guest visits to our high school. When working with students, I also put an emphasis on the importance of test scores such as the ACT and ASVAB scores when it comes to planning ahead. I have a unique advantage, working in the junior high and high school setting, and I love that I can promote UA Cossatot for high school services.” Nashville students can contact Amy Westfall at 870-845-3201, ext. 518 or via e-mail at awestfall@cccua.edu.
Gabriela Balderas began working as a Career Coach for UA Cossatot in the fall of 2014. Gabriela provides educational services to De Queen students on career and post-secondary planning. Balderas says, “I enjoy working with the students at De Queen High School. I believe we have some of the best students, and I love being able to see them grow from year to year and learn about their aspirations. I also like being able to connect students to resources offered at UA Cossatot while in high school. We have many students that attend the UA Cossatot Secondary Career Center and many that are doing concurrent credit at the high school. These opportunities allow students to be able to get a head start on earning college credit.” De Queen students can contact Gabriela Balderas at 870-642-2426 or via e-mail at gbalderas@cccua.edu.