Two Community College Career Coaches are working with four high schools in the Dabney S Lancaster Community College service area this fall to help secondary students easily transition to postsecondary education.
Marsha Keyser will work with students at Covington and Bath County High Schools, and Donnie Kern will work with Alleghany High School and Jackson River Technical Center students. The Career Coach program is being generously funded by a grant from the Alleghany Foundation.
The Virginia Career Coach Program, started in 2005, provides services in high schools aimed at advancing the educational and career planning of students. Community colleges partner with the Commonwealth of Virginia and local high schools in employing over 110 career coach specialists in more than 165 high schools across Virginia. Coaches work with a wide range of students, including students with economic or other challenges. Coaches help students to transition to work, attend a college or university, enlist in the military, or pursue industry certification training, in addition to providing specialist expertise regarding community college opportunities.
Keyser, a resident of Iron Gate, holds an Associate of Science in Business Administration from Webster College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. She was a substitute teacher for Alleghany County Public Schools for four years and served as a DSLCC high school Career Coach at James River High School during the 2013-14 school year.
Kern, a DSLCC graduate and resident of Alleghany County, holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Radford University and is completing his Masters in Accounting from Liberty University. He has been credentialed as an Enrolled Agent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury for his knowledge in taxation. He has attended career coaching conferences and was enrolled in a career coach certification program over the summer. He most recently served as the Coordinator for Experiential Learning and Job Placement assistance at DSLCC, through Trade Adjustment Assistance funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to a consortium of community colleges in Virginia.
Both Keyser and Kern have offices in the DSLCC Convocation Center on the DSLCC Clifton Forge campus. Keyser may be contacted at 540-863-2800, ext. 3551, or email mkesyer@dslcc.edu; Kern may be contacted at 540-863-2800, ext. 3552, or dkern@dslcc.edu.
