A $1.4-Million Assignment

What started out as a four-page consultation paper for Kacky Hoffman’s school psychology internship class turned into a $1.4-million grant supporting after-school programming for three Portland elementary schools for five years.

Hoffman built a partnership with the David Douglas School District, the Boys & Girls Club of Portland, Trillium Family Services, and the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark. The group’s goal was to provide the 1,600 children at Lincoln Park, Ventura Park, and West Powellhurst elementary schools with high-quality after-school activities that focused not only on students’ academic enrichment but also on their overall mental health. Lewis & Clark counseling psychology interns receive scholarship dollars to participate in the project, while counseling psychology faculty provide expertise in supervision, program design, and program evaluation.

Hoffman, who was interning in the David Douglas School District at the time, spearheaded the effort to write the $1.4-million proposal to the Oregon Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Program. When Hoffman received word that the project had been funded in full, she waited a few seconds for the news to sink in and then “jumped in the air and did a little victory dance.”

Hoffman graduated from Lewis & Clark in June with an M.S. in school psychology. She will continue working in the David Douglas School District as program director for the grant and as a school psychologist.