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Sanford Community Adult Education
21 Bradeen Street • Suite 201 • Springvale, ME 04083adulted@sanford.org • (207) 490-5145 • Fax: (207) 490-2478
News & Events
Barbara Bush Foundation awards $25,000 to local Families READ program
Thursday, June 23, 2011
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SPRINGVALE/BIDDEFORD — The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy's Maine Family Literacy Initiative (MEFLI) has awarded $25,000 to Sanford Community Adult Education's Families READ (Reach, Explore, Achieve, Dream) program.
Pam Cote, of Families READ, accepted the award from Mrs. Bush at a ceremony held at the J. Richard Martin Community Center in Biddeford on June 15.
Families READ operates on Sanford Community Adult Education's academic campus in Springvale. Family literacy participants attend academic classes at the Anderson Learning Center on Bradeen Street and participate in intergenerational time, playgroups, and support groups at the school's child care center, First Steps. Families READ pays 100-percent of the parent's education and family support costs, including payment for books, classes, child care (at First Steps) and transportation to classes and Families READ playgroups. In addition, if a parent graduates from SCAE while in the Families READ program, he or she continues to receive free child care while pursuing the next step in his or her education.
"The abilities to read, write and comprehend enable people to create brighter and more prosperous futures for themselves, their families and their communities," Mrs. Bush said during her announcement of the funds. "The staff and volunteers with the MEFLI programs are making a wonderful difference in many lives, and I am proud of their work to make Maine a more literate state."
A total of ten grants of $25, 000 were awarded this year from applications submitted by libraries, adult education and public schools across the state. Programs receiving support provide family literacy services, including adult and early childhood instruction, and time for parents and children to read together. An additional two planning grants of $5,000 each will help communities develop the partnerships and resources needed to implement a family literacy program in 2011.
Five "Lighthouse Model Programs" grants of $25,000 have also been awarded to well-established, model family literacy programs that have proposed outreach activities to support the promotion and expansion of family literacy services in Maine. Applicants were selected based on their ability to demonstrate experience and success in providing family literacy programming, the creativity of their outreach activities, and the diversity of their partnerships and target audiences.
Since 1996, The Maine Family Literacy Initiative has awarded 243 grants totaling $4,341,991. To learn more, visit
.
Founded by Barbara Bush in 1989, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy supports the development and expansion of family literacy programs — in settings where parents and children read and learn together — across the United States. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to nonprofit organizations, correctional institutions, homeless shelters, schools and school districts, libraries and community- and faith-based agencies.
As of June 2011, the Foundation has awarded over $40 million to 902 family literacy programs in 50 states including the nation's capital. In addition to its national program, the Foundation supports the work of four statewide initiatives in Maine, Texas, Maryland and Florida.
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is a fund of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region in Washington, DC. To learn more, visit
.
Posted by Margie Genereux on June 23, 2011 | Read more in: News
Sanford Community Adult Ed Graduates Shine During Their Big Night
By Shawn P. Sullivan, Sanford News Editor
Thursday, June 23, 2011
SANFORD — Betty Rider lost her job in 2009 when the supermarket at which she worked closed.
Undeterred, she took advantage of the federal government's Workforce Investment Act and enrolled in Sanford Community Adult Education's Employment Skills Certificate Program to earn an Accounting Clerk Certificate.
She set a goal for herself — earn the certificate before her unemployment ran out. She did just that and completed her courses in nine months. She also learned how to write a resume, how to excel during an interview, and develop confidence in herself and her abilities.
It all paid off. Days after completing her classes, a temp agency hired her to work as an administrative assistant at a business in New Hampshire. After 90 days as a temp, the company officially hired her — but only after she took the opportunity to assert herself and negotiate a higher starting pay.
"If it weren't for my new confidence, I would have just accepted what was offered to me as I always did in the past," she said.
Rider was just one of dozens of SCAE graduates who shined when the adult education program held its annual commencement exercises at Mousam View Place on High Street on Wednesday, June 15. The students that evening collected their hard-earned high school diplomas, GEDs, and employment skills certificates during a ceremony filled with pride and applause.
Other graduates — Steven Merlin, Charlene Mikulski, James Spina and Kayla Trumble — gave speeches about their struggles and successes to the families, friends, educators and guests in the room.
Trumble, for example, earned her high school diploma. She was diagnosed with a learning disability at age six and became pregnant as a teenager; she started at SCAE after she lost her job and grew concerned about supporting her two children. SCAE's "Families READ" program helped her "restart" her education and inspired her to start reading to her children. She spoke of the improvements she started seeing in her children's lives once she started making improvements in her own.
"It has taught me to be the best parent that I can be," she said of the program.
Spina said he enrolled at SCAE when the economy took its turn for the worse a few years ago and his line of work started to slow down. He made the decision when all the avenues he pursued reminded him that he needed his GED or a high school diploma. As a teenager, he had dropped out of high school due to a lack of academic interest and credits needed to graduate with his classmates.
To earn his GED, Spina had to spend a year delving into subjects that once daunted him: math fundamentals and applications, reading and writing.
"It was after the completion of these classes that with the encouragement of the staff and the confidence I had gained, I was ready to take the official GED and pass," he said. "When I first came to Sanford Community Adult Education, I was intimidated and in fear that I would not be able to keep up the pace. I soon realized that the courses were engineered for people like me, and the staff was prepared to work with individuals at all levels."
Sanford News Editor Shawn Sullivan served as the ceremony's keynote speaker. He told the success stories of two SCAE students, Nicole McMaster and Deanna Penttila, congratulated all of the graduates and encouraged them to keep learning and growing.
"You must never be completely satisfied with your most recent accomplishments," he said. "You should instead celebrate them as merely your latest triumphs, for more are sure to come."
For SCAE Director Kathi Medcalf, the graduation ceremony was especially bittersweet, as she will be stepping down from her position on June 30. She and her husband are moving out west to her home state, where she has accepted a new position.
During her final address, Medcalf reminisced about her early days at SCAE and described the impact that her colleagues and the students have had on her.
"To the SCAE staff, I am forever indebted to you for giving me a chance and for trusting me to lead you forward," Medcalf said. "To you, the SCAE students, your stories and your perseverance have impressed and inspired me. I will not forget you or your dedication to changing your life and the lives of the people around you."
The following students graduated from SCAE last week.
CLASS OF 2011: Steven R. Bedard, Dante B. Bennett, Judith Sydney Bergeron, Chelsea A. Berube, William G. Boisvert, Shawn Boston, Lynn A. Brown, Shawn Bruno, Jennifer Burch, Cassandra I. Caliri, Wayne A. Cardenas, Michael Deschesne, Nicholas P. Deyo, John D. Dreves, Renee M. Drouin, Rone H. Friedel, Derick T. Giroux, Brandi L. Goodwin, Patricia J. Guignard, Jasanna-Lynn Harmon, Kayla M. Henchey, Evan M. Hudson, Bruce Hunter, Ashley Lasante, Joseph Lewis, Nicole MacMaster, Steven W. Merlin, John F. Molligi, Christopher R. Moss, Michelle M. Muse, Kayla M. Nason, Stephen Nolette, Brinn L. Page, Christy Page, Deanna M. Penttila, Dean P. Purington, Katie L. Rankin, Brian J. Ryea, Tasha L. Simpson, James Spina, Michael C. Sweeney, Jennette L. Teves, Reginald Theriault, Kayla M. Trumble, Hervey R. Turner, Katherine R. Welch, Rodney Welch, Matthew White.
CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS: Victoria Ackroyd, Cassandra Barrieault, Kevin Brelsford, Michael Dupont, Ashlee Godin, Jessica Greene, Dianna Hartford, Ashley Hernandez, Kayla Irons, Sara LaBelle, Joyce Lewis, Krystle MacMaster, Jessica Nason, Marie Rankins, Annette Thibodeau, Meghan Tuttle, William Vance, Chelsea White, Tanya White.
EMPLOYMENT SKILLS CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
General Career Skills: Diana Adams, Kathy Bergeron, Glenna Bouchard, Tracy M. Cote, Michelle Edgerly, Jean Glidden, Kristy Johnson, Sheryl Jones, Deana Kane, Deborah Marchand, Lisa Merlin, Donna Phelps.
Clerical Skills: Diana Adams, Kendra Bernard, Jennifer Burton, Michelle Edgerly, Jean Glidden, Kaitlyn Hubert, Lisa Merlin, Donna Phelps, Betty Ryder.
Administrative Assistant: Ruth Johnson
Medical Secretary: Kendra Bernard
Accounting Clerk: Michelle Edgerly, Ruth Johnson, Betty Ryder.
Families READ Graduates: Jennifer Burch, Jasanna Harmon, Nicole MacMaster, Deanna M. Penttila, Tasha L. Simpson, Kayla M. Trumble.
ROAD Graduates: Monique M. Blanchette, Charlene J. Mikulski, Tammy Nelson, Hervey R. Turner.
Posted by Margie Genereux on June 23, 2011 | Read more in: News
SCAE Student Speaks at Maine Family Literacy Conference
Congratulations to SCAE's own Kayla Trumble, who was a guest speaker at Literacy for Life: Birth Through Adulthood, the Maine Family Literacy Conference held at the Augusta Civic Center on Friday, March 11th. Kayla did an amazing job and everyone at SCAE is extremely proud of her!
Posted by Margie Genereux on April 26, 2011 | Read more in: News
Sanford Community Adult Education hires Allen Lampert as new director
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110421/GJNEWS03/704219803/-1/SANNEWS
Thursday, April 21, 2011
SANFORD — In 1996, Allen Lampert signed up to teach a class in business writing for the Wells Adult Education program. He had never taught a class before and, as he says, he hasn't left the classroom since.
Lampert was recently hired to head the Sanford Community and Adult Education (SCAE) program. He will take over as executive director on July 1, replacing Kathi Medcalf who has resigned (effective June 30) to move "back home" to the Tacoma, Wash., area to be closer to her family.
Education, specifically adult education, is Lampert's second career and he clearly enjoys it.
Lampert started out in banking in 1981 and held a variety of positions in the industry over the next 13 years, he said in a phone interview this week. When he left the business in 1994, he was president of Metropolitan Banking Group for Neworld Bank in Boston.
He then started a company, which, he said, he sold two years later.
It was when he and his wife were enrolling their son in elementary school in Wells that he saw a sign that said the Wells Adult Education program was looking for teachers. Lampert said he wasn't working at the time and his wife encouraged him to apply. He discovered that he loved teaching.
Lampert took a job in the Portland Adult Education program, where his primary responsibility was to create, implement, coordinate and teach a variety of job training courses. He has been with the Portland Adult Education program for 15 years. Among the courses he has taught are keyboarding, business communication and business English.
Lampert teaches Portland Adult Education's WorkReady program, a grant-funded program that helps out-of-work students of all ages improve their skills, polish their resumés and make contacts that will help them find jobs.
He is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern Maine, where he teaches graduate-level adult education courses.
In addition, he has co-authored a book — with USM professor E. Michael Brady — titled "The New Teacher of Adults, A Handbook for Teachers of Adult Education," and has a business consulting company.
Lampert, who is a longtime resident of York County and currently lives in Old Orchard Beach, said he is really excited about the opportunity to work at SCAE.
"The Sanford adult education program is recognized throughout the state of Maine as a very well run program," he said. "Kathi [Medcalf] and her staff are well regarded throughout the state."
He mentioned SCAE's successful marketing and its staff development program as contributing to its "outstanding reputation" in the state.
Medcalf has been director of SCAE since April 2002. During her tenure in Sanford, she has "put SCAE on the map!" according to Sanford Superintendent of Schools Betsy St. Cyr. "She is very respected throughout the state." St. Cyr said Medcalf's work in the areas of family literacy and standards based curriculum are especially noteworthy.
Lampert said he sees the position as an opportunity to use his own skill set to promote SCAE and its programs, to learn what the program is doing well and make it even better.
"I think Sanford is a wonderful town and I think there's a tremendous amount of potential there," he said.
St. Cyr said Lampert plans to begin attending the school department's administrative team meetings, as well as SCAE faculty meetings, next month.
Posted by Margie Genereux on April 25, 2011 | Read more in: News
Certificate program producing success stories
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101021/GJCOMMUNITY03/710219900
Thursday, October 21, 2010
SPRINGVALE — People are often at a loss after being laid off from a job. Sanford Community Adult Education's ESCP (Employment Skills Certificate Program) program is helping local people retrain and get employed.
The ESCP program includes Certified Nursing, General Career Skills, Clerical, Administrative Assistant, Accounting Clerk, Medical Secretary, and Medical Billing & Coding Certificates. In June of 2010, SCAE awarded 49 certificates to 30 students at graduation.
Fall 2010 enrollment continues to be strong, with 39 students taking 62 classes, SCAE Director Kathi Medcalf stated in a press release. Medcalf shared two success stories that have come out of June's graduating class.
Deborah Woodward Bangs went to SCAE in Spring of 2009 after the manufacturing plant where she worked as an office employee closed. Knowing she wanted a change of work, she entered into the Medical Secretary Certificate program. She found her niche, excelled and finished the certificate in June.
Recently, Bangs called to thank SCAE and the Employment Skills Certificate Program for being instrumental in helping her get a job at a home health and hospice agency affiliated with a hospital in Portland with excellent benefits.
After losing her job in December of 2009, Betty Ryder found her way to SCAE. She indicated that she loved working with numbers and entered SCAE's Accounting Clerk Certificate program. She was highly motivated, and finished her certificate in record time. She recently accepted a full-time job with a reputable New Hampshire business in their accounting department.
"The future of the Sanford's ESCP program is bright as we continue to search for new certificates to offer that will lead to employability by collaborating with local agencies such as the Local Career Center, Goodwill Workforce Solutions and DHHS's ASPIRE program as well as keeping in contact with local employers," Medcalf said.
SCAE's ESCP coordinator, Lisa Blanchette, has been invited to share information about SCAE's certificate programs with other adult education programs at the state directors' meeting later this month, as Maine is working on an initiative to implement stackable certificates into adult education programs across the state.
For more information about SCAE's ESCP program and other services, visit online at www.sanfordlearns.org or call 490-5145.
"Classes will begin quarterly, so call now," Medcalf said.
Posted by Margie Genereux on October 21, 2010 | Read more in: News
READ Update - Fall 2010
Last July, Families READ (Reach, Explore, Achieve, Dream) entered its third year as a Lighthouse Program through the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Benita Somerfield, Executive Director of the Foundation, and Becky Dyer, Director for Maine, visited First Step’s Child Care Center and SCAE in July. Benita was extremely impressed with our family literacy program and child care center and is interested in using it as a model for other programs. Mrs. Barbara Bush is now planning a visit to SCAE this spring to meet our families and see our program in action!
All children that have been in the program since they were babies are on target with their developmental milestones. Children assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Assessment (PPVT) show an exceptional grasp of print material and vocabulary. For example, one child whose chronological age is 4.5 assessed at a level of a seven year old!
Families READ has a lot of exciting goals for the year. We hope to expand our relationship with Head Start, fully implement the teen parent program at the high school, and we are exploring how to support an elementary school with family literacy programming.
Posted by Sue Colley on October 6, 2010
SCAE Continues to Move Toward Student-Centered Standards-Based Learning
During the FY10 school year, SCAE had two professional development priorities. First was to create an environment in classrooms that will increase student success with cooperative learning. We had two all day teacher workshops and six, 1.5 hour staff meetings.
At each of these events the assistant director gave examples, used Harry Wong tapes, and teachers shared classroom experiences, both positive and negative, to enhance learning. Some of the feedback from teachers: “Setting goals for activities with defined expectations made students much more involved and comfortable during activities.” Another teacher wrote, “I did more ice breakers this year, not just on the first day, and the students worked together much more happily. They recognized each others strengths and weaknesses and helped each more in class.”
The second priority was to increase skills in assessment-driven instruction. We had two all day teacher workshops and six, 1.5 hour staff meetings. At each of these events the director gave examples and teachers shared classroom experiences both positive and negative to enhance learning. Teachers created and used Capacity Matrices in their classes as a way to help students see their progress and to determine if a student has met standards and is ready to move to the next level. Some teacher comments: “Assessment has been more frequent, especially in lower level math; the students did more self-assessment through exit passes and were able to show mastery of skills when ready.” “Self-assessments were given as as a pre-assessment to a new topic. From these assessments I was able to tailor the instruction to the skill of the class. It made my planning and teaching easier.”
This year SCAE’s goals are: to redesign our summative evaluations to reflect an adult learning standards-based system; and to learn techniques for redirecting inappropriate student behavior in order to increase classroom instructional time.
Posted by Sue Colley on October 6, 2010
ROAD Update - Fall 2010
Sanford Community Adult Education’s (SCAE) ROAD to College Certificate Program does its best to meet the needs of the greater Sanford Community. Through this program, citizens from the community are able to fulfill their goal of going to college. One requirement of the program is to participate in monthly Cohort Meetings. The Cohort Meetings offer ROAD participants the opportunity to interact with others in the program and build a sense of community amongst the college transitions students.
There are many resources that are used to support and augment students’ learning. The National College Transition Network (NCTN) has a wealth of resources which will continue to be used at these meetings. A noticeable difference from previous years is that there has been a significant increase in the interaction the students have outside of the meetings, in the classrooms and lounge areas. Students’ self-confidence has increased immensely, as well as their advocacy skills. These students are having such great success with the program that they are spreading the word to family and friends in the community.
This year, plans are being made for students to visit YCCC, SMCC, USM and UNE. We are also planning to bring guest speakers to SCAE – including Husson College, Andover College, business owners from the community and former ROAD participants. The guest speakers will be invited to attend the ROAD Cohort Meetings. This fall 50+ adults are enrolled in the program.
Posted by Sue Colley on October 6, 2010
ESCP Update - Fall 2010
Our ESCP program includes Certified Nursing, General Career Skills, Clerical, Administrative Assistant, Accounting Clerk, Medical Secretary, and Medical Billing & Coding Certificates.
Last June SCAE awarded 49 certificates to 30 students at graduation.
Our enrollment this semester is 39 students taking 62 classes. Two success stories from last graduation are:
*DB: She came to us in Spring of 2009 after the manufacturing plant she worked at as an office employee closed. Knowing she wanted a change she entered into our Medical Secretary Certificate, she excelled and finished in June. Just last week she called to thank us for being instrumental in helping her get a job at a physicians office affiliated with a hospital in Portland with excellent benefits.
*BR: She came to us in December of 2009 after losing her job. She loved working with numbers and entered our Accounting Clerk Certificate; she was highly motivated, and finished in record time. She found a full-time job in a reputable NH business in their accounting department.
The future of the ESCP program is bright as we continue to search for new certificates to offer that will lead to employability by collaborating with the local agencies such as the Local Career Center, Goodwill Workforce Solutions and DHS’s ASPIRE as well as keeping in contact with local employers.
SCAE has been asked to share information about our Certificate program with other adult education programs at the state directors meeting this year, as our state is working on an initiative to implement stackable certificates into adult education programs.
Posted by Sue Colley on October 6, 2010
