The new scholarship counselor for Pea Ridge High School is not new to the school district nor to Pea Ridge.
Courtney Brown Hurst graduated from Pea Ridge High School in 1999, the last year for graduates from the "old high school" downtown. She passionately loves the students she works with, her school and her community. She has deep roots here -- her parents, John and Kim Webb Brown, graduated from Pea Ridge High School. Her maternal grandfather, Hugh Webb Jr. graduated from Pea Ridge in 1954 and her great-grandparents, Fred and Mabel Webb McKinney, graduated from the Pea Ridge school.
"I've had the opportunity to come back here and serve in the community I came from," she said. "I find that very important to give back. One of my big things is to not become complacent or comfortable. I'm always looking for new things, new changes in education, and this opportunity as the scholarship director has been a great one for me because I get to continue to help and serve our kids in a different capacity. I get to help them prepare for their next steps after high school -- whether that be going into the work force, military, college, technical school or any type of specialty school. It's exciting and I'm looking forward to helping our students become successful adults and contribute to the world."
Hurst, 35, went to Arkansas Tech after high school and earned a degree in biological sciences, planning to go to medical school, for which she was accepted. At college, she met Braxton Hurst, who was in the military. He received orders to be deployed. They married in 2003, before he was deployed. She did not go to medical school, but returned to Pea Ridge and accepted a long-term substitute position at school, then earned her endorsement in teaching through non-traditional licensure. She has taught seventh- and eighth-grade math and science, and coached cheerleading and volleyball. She is heavily involved with the students.
A scholarship counselor is like a career counselor, she explained.
"I'm always looking for new adventures. It's easy to do here because we have so many great opportunities for our kids -- like we have the new flex module at the high school, PRMBA (Pea Ridge Manufacturing and Business Academy), iSchool, concurrent credit opportunities, Pea Ridge Academy, AP classes," she said. "I think it's possible because we have such an involved community. We're new. We're fresh. We're the innovative thing in education."
Hurst is in transition as the scholarship director, learning from LaDonna Penner, who is retiring. Hurst is still teaching a couple of classes at Pea Ridge Middle School, while working part-time at the high school, too.
"She (Penner) has been a great mentor to me and just a wonderful teacher," Hurst said.
Meeting with students, many seniors and some juniors, Hurst talks to them about their goals after high school. She helps them set up their individual plans and shows them how to apply to school, for scholarships and helps with the testing. The school sponsored a Free Application for Federal Student Aid night, assisting students and parents in filling out the required FAFSA forms for college assistance with help from staff from Northwest Arkansas Community College.
In addition to that, next year she plans to teach a couple of classes on career readiness to sophomores to set them in motion to think about their plans. She said juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to take concurrent classes as the high school partners with Arkansas Tech University.
"We are still dealing with a lot of first-generation college students who may not have had the opportunity to go to or finish college, but they understand the importance of it for their kids," she said, referring to the parents of the current high school students.
"My daughter (7-year-old Gracyn) went to College Bound this week," Hurst said, referring to the Bright Futures Pea Ridge project that takes Primary School students on a college visit to give them a vision for attending college. "We're transitioning out of the first generation. It's so important to help the kids bridge the gap."
"I am very lucky to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity because a lot of schools our size do not have a scholarship or career counselor in addition to other counselors," she said, explaining that there are three counselors for students in ninth through 12th grades.
"We've got it going on in Pea Ridge. We are the best kept secret in Northwest Arkansas!"
Hurst, 35, and her husband, Braxton, have two daughters, Gracyn, 7, and Kamryn, 3. They are members of First Baptist Church of Pea Ridge. Braxton is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8109 in Pea Ridge.
Community on 03/30/2016