the CEN Concierge Service

Kimberly Mouser is a dedicated educator with over 30 years of experience in the Texas public school system, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to student and teacher development. Her career highlights include roles as a teacher in grades 6-12 and as a college adjunct instructor, AVID campus coordinator, instructional coach, and administrator in various school settings. Kimberly has been instrumental in implementing and managing two STEM academies, showcasing her skills in instructional coaching and academy model design. As a National Board Certified Teacher and NBCT Candidate Support Provider, Kimberly’s dedication extends beyond classroom teaching to mentoring and supporting educators, reinforcing her commitment to educational excellence and innovation. She joins Collegiate Edu-Nation as an Instructional Coach, bringing her extensive expertise to assist rural school districts on their path to P-20 transformation. She is a graduate of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, where her love and dedication as an educator was instilled. Kimberly is deeply committed to fostering educational excellence, supporting educators, and enhancing student learning experiences in rural communities.

Kelly Springfield comes to CEN with a desire to ensure all students are given the support, encouragement, and guidance to graduate high school with an industry certification and/or associate degree. Growing up in a missionary family, Kelly saw first-hand the levels of poverty in other countries that stem from the lack of education and opportunity. Thus, she is motivated to work with rural students and make sure they are provided ample opportunity to lift themselves out of the poverty cycle that exists in many of their communities. Kelly earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Sul Ross State University.

Her desire was to enter the world of politics and she served as a legislative assistant and campaign treasurer for Representative Pete P. Gallego before switching her focus to education. Throughout her diverse teaching career, Kelly has taught in districts in west, central and south Texas where she taught all core subjects, coached multiple sports, served as an academic coach, taught dyslexia classes, and served as the program director for an Early College High School. She also served as a counselor after completing her Master of Education in School Counseling. In addition to serving in public education, Kelly has worked in the realm of non-profit through Educate Texas where she was a Leadership Coach for the CCRSM campuses in the west Texas area.

Kelly uses her knowledge as a classroom teacher, counselor, and CCRSM coach to provide support and guidance to teachers and administrators in the CEN network to ensure that districts are providing the necessary resources for ALL students to break the poverty cycle.

Dr. Chantel Schulz, is a long-time resident of Woodsboro, Texas along with her four children; Jaxyn, Tynzli, Pyper, and Chandler.

Dr. Schulz began her career in education as a 7th grade Texas History teacher for Alice ISD where she taught for two years before moving on to teach 5th grade American History and Language Arts for Goliad ISD for four years. She then transitioned into university education and served in various roles including, Education Specialist for the Texas State Aquarium, Literacy Specialist for the Corpus Christi Literacy Council, and Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant for Texas A&M University -Corpus Christi where she oversaw the TAMUCC College of Education Master’s level capstone projects. Dr. Schulz then served as the College, Career, and Military Readiness and CTE Coordinator at Woodsboro High School for three and a half years and the Assistant Principal for two years where she established the seven CTE Programs of Study that WHS offers.

Dr. Schulz attended Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in History (2005), Master of Science in Educational Administration (2009), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction with several areas of specialization including; Curricular Studies, Educational Leadership, Research Methods, and Educational Technology & Instructional Design (2016).  She also holds a Texas Teacher, Principal, and Superintendent certification.

To complete her PhD, Dr. Schulz competed and in-depth study of Career and Technical Education programs across the state of Texas from Brownsville to San Antonio that included Education Service Center Regions 1,2,3,& 20 and published her findings in her dissertation titled, “Dual Credit and Certification Programs in High School Career and Technical Education: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Inquiry”.  She has presented her research and findings at several conferences across the state of Texas and was awarded the 2017 SERA Dean’s Award for Exceptional Graduate Student Research and the Texas A&M Award for Outstanding Doctoral Presentation.

CEN Texas Regional Pathways Network

CEN is excited to serve as the intermediary in two Texas Regional Pathways Networks. In February, Roscoe Collegiate ISD received funding from Texas House Bill 1525 to plan a renewable energy pathway network with Roscoe Collegiate ISD, Hamlin Collegiate ISD, and Floydada Collegiate ISD. They also received funds to implement an advanced manufacturing pathway network with Roscoe Collegiate ISD, Hamlin Collegiate ISD, and Throckmorton Collegiate ISD. The grant for both initiatives totaled $1,125,000, the bulk of which will be used to create advanced manufacturing labs with state-of-the-art equipment, furniture, and instructional materials. Funds have also been set aside to build a mobile manufacturing lab to provide training to teachers as well as exposure to students in elementary and middle school. Nearly $100,000 is allotted to the purchase of renewable energy training materials.

These two Texas Regional Pathways Networks are intended to be a collaboration of school districts, higher education, and industry in order to create all-encompassing pathways meeting the needs for students to learn employability and technical skills in renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. The initiative is intended to be industry-led. Therefore we invite the feedback of our industry partners each month. We encourage the schools to plan work-based learning opportunities with employers. The schools also create pathways that will culminate in an industry-based certification, level 1 or 2 post-secondary certificate, associate degree, and bachelor’s degree thus providing multiple levels of opportunity to students.

Learn more at www.txpathways.org

CEN TWC Youth Robotics Program

In May, CEN received notice of a grant award of $575,000 from the Texas Workforce Commission to help nine schools in the CEN network create or expand a robotics program. After a couple of months of planning, we are excited to officially begin building these programs this month. The grant will pay for the supplies necessary for a robotics lab, robotics competition registration, travel for teams, training and stipends for teachers, and a mobile robotics workshop. The schools will be participating in FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) which will supply a kit of parts, playing field, and technical assistance. The participating school districts are Cumby, Floydada, Hamlin, Hico, Iraan-Sheffield, Spurger, Sunray, Throckmorton, and Venus ISD’s. We are excited to assist in the creation of quality robotics programs in these schools.

Learn more at www.firstinspires.org

Americorps

In June, CEN received notice that we would be receiving a grant award in the amount of $402,741 from AmeriCorps to help eleven schools in the CEN network implement our proven model. Since then, we have been working to recruit, train, and implement our first cohort of AmeriCorps service members who began on September 19. The CEN AmeriCorps project places members in different schools within our network as Instructional Support Specialists or Career Exploration Specialists. Instructional Support Specialists will work directly with school staff and faculty in a support role to assist in the instructional aspects of the model. Career Exploration Specialists will work with the community partners, businesses, and industry to support the career and college aspects of the model. We are extremely excited that the CEN AmeriCorps project is providing us the opportunity to provide additional support directly to our districts. Our first cohort placed members in Hamlin, Roscoe, and Cumby. We are still looking to fill member positions in Venus, Floydada, Iraan, Sunray, Bellville, Spurger, Lytle, and Freer.

For more information about CEN AmeriCorps, contact Kendall Guynes, AmeriCorps Program Director, at kguynes@edu-nation.org.

Or learn more at onestarfoundation.org

CEN Registered Apprenticeship Program

The CEN Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) is a combination of On-the-Job Training (OJT) and Related Technical Instruction (RTI) in which the apprentice learns the practice, theoretical aspects and concepts of the occupation. The program is designed to enhance and prepare the apprentice to be fully qualified in multiple aspects of the industry in which they are apprenticing. Depending on the RAP, apprentices will complete 2,000-6,000 hours of OJT and 144-432 hours of RTI. Some systems will be eligible for financial assistance. 

Why apply?

For apprentices, this program offers an accelerated path into the industry they desire to build a career with access to a mentor and wage increases as skills are mastered. For participating employers, this program cultivates a well-trained workforce. CEN, as the program sponsor, serves to connect employers to apprentices.

Employer Benefits

• Increased knowledge transfer through on-the-job learning from an experienced mentor, combined with education courses to support work-based learning.
• Enhanced employee retention: 91% of apprentices that complete an apprenticeship are still employed nine months later.
• A safer workplace that may reduce worker compensation costs, due to the program’s emphasis on safety training.
• A stable and reliable pipeline of qualified workers.
• A systematic approach to training that ensures employees are trained and certified to produce at the highest skill levels required for the occupation.

Apprentice Benefits

• Alternative pathway into a dependable and lucrative career.
• Apprentices earn a living wage while learning their trade.
• Opportunity to gain a quality education with little to no debt in a shorter time frame.
• Hands-on career training and support from a knowledgeable and qualified mentor.

Who can apply?

To qualify for the RAP, candidates must:

- Be at least 18 and able to provide proof of age.

- Be a high school graduate or have their GED.

- Submit a DD-214 to verify military training (veterans only).

- Be physically capable of performing essential duties of the program, with or without reasonable accommodation.

- Successfully pass a background check.

- Pass a drug screening if required by the employer.

- Possess a valid driver’s license and be insurable at normal commercial rates 

If interested:

To learn more and show interest in participating, please fill out this interest form and contact CEN's Apprenticeship Team at bwilliams@edu-nation.org

CEN Registered Apprenticeship Program

The CEN Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) is a combination of On-the-Job Training (OJT) and Related Technical Instruction (RTI) in which the apprentice learns the practice, theoretical aspects and concepts of the occupation. The program is designed to enhance and prepare the apprentice to be fully qualified in multiple aspects of the industry in which they are apprenticing. Depending on the RAP, apprentices will complete 2,000-6,000 hours of OJT and 144-432 hours of RTI. Some systems will be eligible for financial assistance. 

Why apply?

For apprentices, this program offers an accelerated path into the industry they desire to build a career with access to a mentor and wage increases as skills are mastered. For participating employers, this program cultivates a well-trained workforce. CEN, as the program sponsor, serves to connect employers to apprentices.

Employer Benefits

• Increased knowledge transfer through on-the-job learning from an experienced mentor, combined with education courses to support work-based learning.
• Enhanced employee retention: 91% of apprentices that complete an apprenticeship are still employed nine months later.
• A safer workplace that may reduce worker compensation costs, due to the program’s emphasis on safety training.
• A stable and reliable pipeline of qualified workers.
• A systematic approach to training that ensures employees are trained and certified to produce at the highest skill levels required for the occupation.

Apprentice Benefits

• Alternative pathway into a dependable and lucrative career.
• Apprentices earn a living wage while learning their trade.
• Opportunity to gain a quality education with little to no debt in a shorter time frame.
• Hands-on career training and support from a knowledgeable and qualified mentor.

Who can apply?

To qualify for the RAP, candidates must:

- Be at least 18 and able to provide proof of age.

- Be a high school graduate or have their GED.

- Submit a DD-214 to verify military training (veterans only).

- Be physically capable of performing essential duties of the program, with or without reasonable accommodation.

- Successfully pass a background check.

- Pass a drug screening if required by the employer.

- Possess a valid driver’s license and be insurable at normal commercial rates 

If interested:

To learn more and show interest in participating, please fill out this interest form and contact CEN's Apprenticeship Team at bwilliams@edu-nation.org