Kaide Dodson is an advocate for after-school programming.

Her job as an after-school program coordinator and grant writer for the Libby School District is to make sure there is enough academic support and enrichment activities after school so that children have opportunities to engage in positive behaviors.

Dodson, 30, has expanded the after-school program since she started working for the district five years ago.

“I expanded the program to college and career prep at the high school level so that kids were better prepared — writing resumes, applying for college loans — basically giving them the tools to be successful after high school,” Dodson said.

Her role has been to fill the hours from 3:30 to 5 p.m., the time when school ends and parents aren’t home from work yet, and children can get into trouble.

“Parents are working, not home yet and there are no drop-in [community] centers where students can go. Within our after-school program we keep school open to provide activities and homework help,” Dodson said.

One of the largest events Dodson has organized was a 2011 Halloween event for students in grades seven to 12, in partnership with Libby Dam. More than 80 students participated in activities such as geocaching, pumpkin carving, a glow-in-the-dark disc golf tournament and haunted tours.

Dodson oversees grant-funded programs for the district such as Learn and Serve and GEAR UP.

This is the first year the district has offered GEAR UP, a program designed to increase college and career readiness for low-income students.

Dodson said Learn and Serve is a program that helps youths discover their motivation for participating in community service.

“We focus on why they would do community service and understand how the service project is making an impact or contributing to a community,” Dodson said.

A recent service project involved the high school’s Youth Leadership Club. The club decided to revitalize a playground at a school that had closed seven years ago to provide a nice place for youth to use. The club set up a day and invited residents to a barbecue while volunteers helped paint, fix equipment, put basketball nets up and replace mounds and bases on a baseball field.

“We still have to put up a volleyball net. Hopefully this provides a place where kids will engage in positive activities,” Dodson said. “The ‘learning’ part in Learn and Serve is to see the park get utilized,” Dodson said.

In the fall of 2011, Dodson was chosen to be an Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance.

“I think they recognized our programs and the amount of time that goes into them,” Dodson said.

As an ambassador she recently traveled to Washington, D.C., for the 11th annual Afterschool for All Challenge. She spent two days meeting with colleagues, students and other advocates from around the nation to discuss the importance of after-school programming with members of Congress.

Education has always been a part of Dodson’s life.

“I grew up valuing education. I never truly explored the education field until I entered college,” Dodson said.

Initially, she thought she would go into psychology, but with a scholarship in art and an experience spending two years as a school paraprofessional, she decided to match art with her interest in teaching and majored in both art and English education, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2004 from Montana State University.

In 2005 she took a teaching position in California and moved back to her hometown of Libby in 2007 to raise a family, 3-year-old Zane and 5-year-old Kaiden, with her husband Brad.

In 2010 she earned a master’s of educational leadership degree through Western Governors University. She recently accepted a principal position at Quest Academy in Las Vegas, where she will start in July. Dodson said she wanted to take a leadership role to have a part in improving education.

“I think I’ll always be in education because I believe success of country truly lies in the education opportunities for the youth,” Dodson said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].