Cowley College Foundation

When Kailee Choice came to Cowley College, she dreamed of breaking school sprinting records but later explored new passions in her college journey. She established a college family early on as a member of the Tiger Athletics Track & Field Team. Her sports career may have ended at the end of her Freshman year but her lifelong passion was discovered along the way in the many ways she got involved on campus.

During her sophomore year, she became a Cowley Ambassador, a Champion leader of student club, Voices Heard, an officer in Student Senate, and also a member of the ACES programs which helps assist with a variety of community services projects.

These new opportunities allowed her to pivot towards projects that helped her gain experience in encouraging culture change; aligning with her long-term goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer.

After graduating from Cowley College, she decided to further her education at Texas Southern University, an HBCU in Houston, Texas. Still following her love for making change for the people around her, she became Political Science President, a Collegiate 100 member, and involved herself in advocacy around election time and immersed herself in HBCU values and issues.

The Cowley College Career and Technical Education Center campaign has crossed the $1.8 million mark thanks to Union State Bank and the Docking Family.

The Center will help train and certify graduates in areas of advanced construction trade, those in the fields of electrical and HVAC, welding, and criminal justice.

“With more than 600 technical openings going unfilled across Cowley County and the region, the need for the Tech Center is significant,” Eric Kurtz, Union State Bank President and CEO said. According to a Comprehensive Regional Economic Needs Assessment, more than 350 advanced construction trade positions, 100 electrical and HVAC positions, and almost 50 welding positions need to be filled by local and regional businesses."

“There is a ripple effect when these diverse trade skills go unfilled,” said Brad Bryant, Union State Bank’s Arkansas City Market President. “From home and commercial construction to the oil fields and from manufacturing to electric companies, the economy is slowed when businesses can’t find qualified employees. This project creates employment for hundreds, builds businesses, and grows our economy.”

The Center will help train and certify graduates in areas of advanced construction trade, those in the fields of electrical and HVAC, welding, and criminal justice. “Hundreds of these positions go unfilled every five years in Cowley County and the region,” said Dr. Michelle Schoon, College President. “Our businesses can’t find enough qualified people for these specialty technical areas. The Career and Tech Center provides expanded space and new instructional technologies to educate and train more people in these areas more effectively and quickly.”

Dachye Stubbs graduated from Cowley in 2020 and currently is a full-time student and working full-time. She is now back home in the Bahamas and finishing a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management remotely at Liberty University. She also works at the International Elite Sports Academy in Nassau, Bahamas as the Director of Softball and also doing marketing and event planning for the organization.

"I was blessed to have Cowley as my first collegiate home", Dachye said, "my time there wasn’t a walk in the park, but it played a massive role in who I am today. My Cowley family believed in me and pushed me to breakthroughs I never thought I would experience in this life...Cowley is a place for visionaries and a hub to dream."