By Sherron Lumley
“My current work is really focused on preparing educators and counselors to be agents of social change in their respective professions.”
~Kelly Novahom, 2019 PACE alumna, PSU College of Education
Kelly Novahom is a 2019 College of Education alumna and currently the Program Manager at the Center for Community Engagement at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. She earned her Master of Arts in Education Leadership and Policy; Postsecondary Adult and Continuing Education (PACE), attending the two-year program geared toward working professionals at PSU’s College of Education.
“My current work is really focused on preparing educators and counselors to be agents of social change in their respective professions,” says Kelly Novahom, who manages all continuing education and specialized training workshops for counselors, K-12. “I love working at Lewis & Clark Graduate School, we work with many professionals in the field including PK-12 teachers, school counselors, administrators, and counselors and therapists in the private and public sectors.
“I was a first generation college graduate. I grew up in a single-parent household. My mom immigrated from the Philippines at age 15. In high school, I went through IB [International Baccalaureate], a program geared toward academic preparation for college. My high school had one counselor and there was no one who helped me with scholarships, financial aid or where to apply to college. It was a mixed experience.
“After getting my bachelor’s degree at the University of California Irvine and working there for three years after graduation, I came to visit Portland a few times and I just loved it. I wanted to stay on the West Coast and PSU was a well-known school in the area. The PACE program has everything I wanted in terms of continuing my professional interest in working in higher education. PACE is a two-year program that is an online/in-person hybrid, which helps as a working professional. I started working at Lewis & Clark Law School and attending the graduate program at the College of Education at the same time.
“I concentrated on curriculum development and instructional design (for online learning), adult learning and motivation, and teaching adult learners, which are all very relevant to my career. My advice to people interested in PACE would be first to choose a graduate program concentration that fits your professional and personal goals. PACE has different options. My focus was on adult learners and how they learn best. Working full time and doing the program part-time worked very well, and I’m hoping in the future to earn a PhD.
“The PACE program offers a very unique experience to be in a classroom with other mid-career professionals. It is not cohort-based, which means everyone starts on their own terms, when the time is right for them. The leadership and professors offer major expertise, such as [PACE program coordinator] Dr. Michael Smith’s knowledge of community college and the social justice focus, and Dr. Christine Cress, who is a service learning expert.
“One other thing, PACE alumni are a big part of the higher education community in Portland; many graduates end up working at PSU, Reed, Lewis & Clark and other colleges and universities across the state and beyond. Alumni help each other with finding jobs and have the program listed on our LinkedIn pages to stay connected. We also get together for orientation alumni panels with incoming students, and that is fun to do. PACE is a great opportunity to build up your network while in the program and after graduation.”
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