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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
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
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
Families READ
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
