Career Coaches

Elena LoRusso, Career Coach

Phone: 804-561-2101
Email: elena.lorusso@southside.edu
https://amelia.k12.va.us

Bernadine Johnson, Career Coach

Phone: 434-372-5177
Email: bernadine.johnson@southside.edu
mcpsweb.org

Krisha Jones SVCC Brunswick High School Career Coach. Krisha is a graduate of BHS! She is in her 9th year as the BHS Career Coach and enjoys helping students to reach their full potential. One of her favorite quotes is from an unknown author and she is quick to share it with her students, “Don’t be disappointed with the results you don’t get from the work you didn’t do.”

Phone: 434-848-2716
Email: krisha.jones@southside.edu
https://bhs.brunswickcps.org/

Tina Maxey SVCC Buckingham County High School Career Coach. Tina not only is the career coach at Buckingham, but she is a graduate! In her 11th year as a career coach, she is involved in community organizations such as the Dillwyn Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary and enjoys working with students. Tina works closely with school counselors and the college advisor to assist seniors with the daunting task of the college admissions process.

Phone: 434-969-6160
Email: tina.maxey@southside.edu
https://www.bcpschools.org/

Melissa Colbert SVCC Central of Lunenburg High School Career Coach. Melissa shares her favorite quote by Maya Angelou, “Nothing will work unless you do.” As a business owner in Southside Virginia for 22 years, Melissa Colbert knows first-hand the importance of having a skilled and trained workforce. She knows the value of education and the challenges students face if they don’t have a clear pathway. Without support of school counselors, administrators, teachers and career coaches, the majority of students will graduate with IDK (I Don’t Know). She has been a career coach for 8 years.

Phone: 434-696-2137
Email: melissa.colbert@southside.edu
https://www.lunenburgcountyschools.org/o/central-high

Earnestine Robertson Sharpe SVCC Cumberland County High School Career Coach. Earnestine has over 35 years of experience in providing educational and work opportunities for students. Her experience includes teacher/counselor, Education Coordinator in the Richmond Community Action ABE/GED program and Project Discovery’s Program Director for STEPS Community Action Agency. Her goal is to work with students at Cumberland to increase the number who enter postsecondary education and/or workforce training programs to enable them to prepare for success.

Phone: 804-492-4212
Email: ernestine.sharpe@southside.edu
https://www.cucps.k12.va.us/o/chs

Henry “Buck” Brockwell SVCC Greensville County High School Career Coach. No stranger to education, Buck’s career path has included being a Work Cooperative Teacher as well as Director of Vocational Education. He uses a series of You-Tube presentations emphasizing ethics, apprenticeship, STEM-H, retail of the future, do rich and poor people think differently, cool inventions and famous people’s success stories to communicate with students and talk about career plans. According to Buck, “When a student makes informed decisions, I feel they are preparing for the future.” He is a fan of this Bill Gates quote, “Life is not fair; get used to it.”

Phone: 434-634-2195,2196,2197
Email: buck.brockwell@southside.edu
https://www.gcps1.com/Domain/11

Karl Staten SVCC Halifax County High School Career Coach. Karl, a graduate of Halifax County High School, works with students to develop a realistic plan of action to encourage success after high school. He is a resource for information regarding college admissions, financial aid, scholarships, dual enrollment, and all career/academic-related events.

Phone: 434-572-4977
Email: karl.staten@southside.edu
https://www.halifax.k12.va.us/news/all

Bernadine Johnson, Career Coach

Phone: 434-447-3435
Email: bernadine.johnson@southside.edu
mcpsweb.org

Rhonda Adams SVCC Prince Edward County High School Career Coach. Rhonda has previous work experience in financial aid and college admissions. This background is a big plus for her duties as a career coach. Transition from high school to college, workforce training, or employment is challenging for students. As career coach, Rhonda provides the support students need to meet these challenges. With over 8 years’ experience as a career coach she now enjoys seeing the fruits of her labor as former students complete their education and enter their careers. One of Rhonda’s favorite quotes from an unknown author she shares with students is “If you never try, you’ll never know.”

Phone: 434-315-2130
Email: rhonda.adams@southside.edu
http://pecps.k12.va.us/schools/high_school

Katherine Tharpe, Career Coach Randolph-Henry High School

Phone: 434-542-4111
Email: katherine.tharpe@southside.edu
www.ccpsk12.org

Latrice Farley, Career Coach Nottoway County High School 

Phone: 434-292-5373
Email: latrice.farley@southside.edu
www.nottowayschools.org