Hogan Lovells US LLP brings DC SCORES to Kimball Elementary

Hogan Lovells LLP has been a DC SCORES partner for the better part of two decades. There’s never been a DC SCORES Cup — our corporate charity soccer tournament — without a Hogan team in the field. Every year, the firm’s lawyers, staff, and summer associates volunteer at events, referee games, and even judge poetry slams.

So when we learned that one of our longest and strongest law firm supporters was also partnering with Kimball Elementary School through the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, we saw an opportunity. Kimball was one of 20 schools on the DC SCORES waitlist, and with the imminent prospect of two years in swing space for renovations, it was also a school in need of something to rally around for the fall.

The leadership team and Citizenship Office at Hogan Lovells agreed to underwrite DC SCORES at Kimball if we could stand the program up there, and with the help of the principal and dedicated teachers, we were able to do that and more. Throughout the fall season and in spite of the challenges of bussing to and from temporary space, the new Kimball DC SCORES team was among the best in the league in attendance, routinely getting 30+ kids to game days. They also shined on the field as the Kimball boys went undefeated in league play.

“We are thrilled with how the partnership has gone so far,” says Erika Bowman, Citizenship Program Supervisor at Hogan Lovells. “Both the DC SCORES community and the Kimball community mean so much to our office, so being able to combine them in this way has been a pleasure to see.”

Kimball capped off their season last week with their first ever Poetry Slam! performance. Despite some nerves in the week leading up to the Slam — normal for any first-time team — Kimball took the stage and poured their hearts out for a standing-room-only crowd at HD Woodson High School.

“I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and creativity of every student,” says Bowman, a guest judge at the Eastside Slam. “You could feel the energy and see the passion on their faces. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the roles that different aspects of the program play in these kids’ development.”

The Kimball Cheetahs will be back in the field in the spring. We are thrilled to have them as part of the DC SCORES family, and we are grateful to our longtime partners at Hogan Lovells for helping to make it happen.

If you’d like to find out how your company can help bring DC SCORES to one of the schools on our waitlist, please contact Tony Francavilla at afrancavilla@dcscores.org