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Sanford Community Adult Education
21 Bradeen St, • Suite 201 • Springvale, ME 04083adulted@sanford.org • (207) 490-5145 • Fax: (207) 490-2478
News & Events
Former First Lady Barbara Bush presents Lighthouse grant check to Pam Cote
Click here to read the article in The Sanford News.
Posted on June 27th 2009 | Read more in: News
Graduation 2009
Our recent graduation celebration was another wonderful evening. Check out this story from the Sanford News.
Posted on June 27th 2009 | Read more in: News
Learning Camps for Kids!
About Camp: SCAE is offering week-long Learning Camps for Kids this summer! Our goal is to provide very high quality, very reasonably priced activities for local area youngsters, ages 7-11. Each camp will run from 9 am to 3 pm for one week and will be limited to 12 campers.
Please drop off campers after 8:45 a.m. and pick them up before 3:15 p.m. Before- and after-care is not available. Please!: You must come into the building and sign in and sign out your child with a designated SCAE employee. We are providing an affordable day camp experience that will be instructed by local professional adults. Your camper's day will include time spent inside as well as outside - with outside being the preferred spot! So, sunblock and/or hats are recommended, as is insect repellent! Campers are encouraged to bring a bottle of water with them each day along with a healthy snack, but lunch will be provided free-of-charge to campers by the Sanford School Nutrition program. Please do not send sugary snacks or drinks or anything that requires refrigeration.
To Register: Registrations will not be accepted without the registration form and payment of $150 per enrollment. You can mail fax or drop off the registration form. You may pay by phone or online at www.sanfordlearns.org. Your child's registration won't be official until both payment and registration form are received. You may pay by phone with a credit card or in person with cash, check or credit card. Registrations are being accepted now - space is limited! Walk-in and telephone registrations will be accepted at the SCAE office at the Anderson Learning Center (21 Bradeen Street, Suite 201 in Springvale). The phone number is 490-5145 and the fax number is 490-2478.
Summer Camp brochure.pdf
Posted on May 14th 2009 | Read more in: News
SCAE's Employment Program Trains Students for the Workplace
courtesy photo Sanford resident Lisa Bernier says Sanford Community Adult Education taught her the skills she needs for the new job she loves. EDITOR'S NOTE. The following feature is the latest installment in a series of occasional entries about individuals who have improved their lives by attending Sanford Community Adult Education at the Anderson Learning Center in Springvale.
By Gail Lemley Burnett
Sanford News Guest WriterThursday, March 19, 2009
SPRINGVALE — Anyone would have forgiven Sandy Hilton if she'd felt sorry for herself four years ago. The Vishay Sprague plant in Sanford was shutting the last of its departments, putting her out of work for the first time in 23 years. She was middle-aged, her children were grown, and she had no high school diploma.
But Hilton, a Sanford native, didn't waste any time on self-pity. She sat down and considered her options.
"I figured I would go either toward the medical profession or the law," she says.
Neither was likely to be sent overseas, as Vishay Sprague's manufacturing jobs had been.
The first step was finishing her high school education. Hilton had always enjoyed school and had dropped out decades earlier, only because her mother couldn't afford to drive her to Sanford High from the outskirts of town. (No bus was available back then.) She took the tests for the GED (General Education Development) diploma at Sanford Community Adult Education (SCAE) and passed all subject areas easily.
"I surprised myself," she recalls.
Next, Hilton enrolled in the Employment Skills Certificate Program (ESCP) at SCAE, which gives high school graduates a chance to earn a number of job-related certificates. Initially, she was thinking of working in a doctor's office. That meant brushing up on basic skills such as English and math and exploring areas that were entirely new, like accounting and computers.
"I felt a little awkward at first," she says, because she was so unfamiliar with the computer. "But nobody else seemed to notice, and it didn't bother me after awhile."
Hilton eventually earned three certificates in the Employment Skills Certificate Program — her Clerical Certificate, Administrative Assistant Certificate, and Medical Secretary Certificate. Although she earned her certificates from SCAE, she needed to supplement her SCAE classes with courses offered at another school because of scheduling problems. Shortly afterward, she was hired by the billing department at Goodall Health Partners and has worked there for the last two and a half years.
She says that the Employment Skills Certificate Program gave her training that was both academic and thoroughly practical. She learned about writing business letters and resumes and got valuable pointers on how to present herself during a job interview. She learned the specialized language of medical billing; she still has a notebook from SCAE instructor Shirley Ross on her desk at work.
She advises anyone facing unemployment today to consider taking advantage of local training opportunities like the ESCP program.
"Don't be afraid to try it. It's the greatest thing. It makes you feel so good about yourself," she says.
That's the same advice Lisa Bernier gives to people these days.
"It doesn't matter how old you are, you can go back to school now. Things are different," she says.
Bernier, also of Sanford, worked a series of jobs before she was laid off from U.S. Optical Disc two years ago. She had graduated from Biddeford High School in the mid-1980s and then worked for Rich's department store, Vishay Sprague, and the U.S. Census Bureau. She ran her own housecleaning business for awhile, but found that transportation to job sites was too expensive. She was offered some retraining money after the U.S. Optical layoff and decided to take it.
"I did self-employment and I did the factory, and I did very little office work, but that's what I really enjoyed — and that's where I really needed brushing up," she says.
Bernier studied reading, writing, accounting, computers and other skills to earn a General Career Skills Certificate as well as a Clerical Certificate at SCAE. This led directly to her job as an administrative assistant for the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) nutrition program at York County Community Action Corp. in Sanford. She loves helping young mothers nourish their children and themselves.
She says that her time at SCAE gave her more than employment skills; it brought her new confidence in reading and writing in any context. It had been 20 years since she'd studied things like apostrophes and paragraphs, which she knew she'd need in an office job.
"Even my sentences are a lot better than they were before," she says.
Like many returning students, Bernier had a few moments of hesitation when she registered for her first SCAE classes.
"At first, I was thinking I'm 40 years old, could I do it? Well, I could," she says.
She has a new perspective on the all-too-familiar story of layoffs and business downturns now. She says she's encouraged her sister, whose job at RR Donnelley in Wells will soon disappear, to consider the ESCP program.
"This could actually help you," she tells her sister. "Try to brush up your skills and go for something you really want now. It's worth it. Why not?"
The Employment Skills Certificate Program at SCAE offers a General Career Skills Certificate, a Clerical Certificate and three advanced certificates, Administrative Assistant Certificate, Accounting Clerk Certificate, and Medical Secretary Certificate. It is possible to be working on more than one certificate concurrently.
SCAE is located in the Anderson Learning Center at 21 Bradeen Street in Springvale. For more information or a registration appointment, call coordinator Lisa Blanchette at 490-5145.
Posted on March 19th 2009 | Read more in: News
SCAE part of new statewide website: Medcalf leads effort to put Maine's adult education programs under one Internet umbrella
Click the link below to read the story at www.fosters.com:
http://fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090226/GJNEWS03/702259727/-1/SANNEWS
Click here to read it in pdf format.
Posted on February 27th 2009 | Read more in: News
Sanford Community Adult Education's Brochure Wins Award
Sanford Community Adult Education has been honored for excellence in the Catalog/Brochure/Schedule category by the Learning Resources Network (LERN), an international association in lifelong learning. SCAE’s winning entry was included in a showcase of internationally exemplary programs at the LERN Annual Convention in San Francisco, California on November 16 to 18, 2008.
The winning entry was submitted by Kathi Medcalf, Director of Sanford Community Adult Education. Medcalf, Lisa Blanchette – SCAE’s Employment Skills Certificate Program Coordinator - and Sue Colley, SCAE’s Marketing Coordinator and brochure designer, attended the conference in San Francisco. Colley is pictured here with the award which was presented by LERN President, William Draves. Information about the award-winning brochure was on display in the conference Hall of Learning throughout the three-day conference. In addition, the winning programs will be featured in future LERN publications and on LERN’s website.
Judges indicated that there was a very high level of excellence in this year’s field of nominees. Julie Coates, Vice President of Information Services for LERN, said that this year’s award nominees were among the highest quality ever submitted. Ms. Coates also noted that there were more winners selected this year than in any previous year, due to the excellence in quality of the nominations.
In selecting programs to be recognized for excellence, Coates said the primary criteria judges used for those selected was the quality of being at the leading edge of the field of lifelong learning, as evidenced by their nomination. In addition, judges also applied the following criteria: originality, innovation, appropriateness as a model for other programs, replicability, and measurable outcomes. The awards selection process is very competitive, Coates, said, and it is truly an honor to be selected. Sanford Community Adult Education entry was selected from more than 140 nominations from four countries.
We are very proud of Sue and her work.
Posted on January 7th 2009 | Read more in: News
Welcome to our new website!
We have recently launched our new website! The new site brings with it many new and exciting features designed to make locating and registering for courses much easier.
Some of these new and exciting features include:
- Search for courses: You can now search for courses from our program as well as from other adult education programs across the state. You can also browse our courses by category if you prefer.
- Register online: You no longer need to come into our office or mail us your registration for some courses. When you see the "Add to Cart" button on any course, that means you can register and pay for the course online in a few easy steps. Of course, you can also call, walk-in, or mail in your registration if you prefer.
- Latest news and events: Read our latest news, updates, happenings and events inside our News & Events section. You can also subscribe to our News & Events using RSS.
- Frequently Asked Questions: Find answers to important questions about our program, schedules, registering, and the adult education system by searching or browsing our frequently asked questions section.
Our website is a part of the new Maine Adult Education Portal, sponsored and managed by the Maine Adult Education Association. When you visit the new MAEA website online at http://www.maineadulted.org, you can search for courses and programs statewide to find the perfect class closest to where you work or live.
These are just a few of the many exciting additions to our site, and many more are slated to appear over the next year. Please continue to check back with us, and please share your feedback by contacting us. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy your new adult education website.
Posted on November 9th 2008 | Read more in: News
