HOULTON, Maine — To meet the demands of developing a trained workforce in Maine, adult education programs provide education and training for citizens that are currently not in the workforce or are seeking to improve their credentials to upgrade their employment options.
Houlton-Hodgdon Adult and Community Education center meets these demands under the Maine College and Career Access grant by focusing on free programming for college readiness and enrollment into post secondary programs.
According to Joe Fagnant, program director, staff provide guidance to apply to school or training programs, assist students with access to financial aid and scholarships, and ultimately provide academic support to enter school or training programs with confidence to pursue a degree or certification.
HHACE also delivers courses and services for Northern Maine Community College. This allows students to work with HHACE staff to apply to college, process paperwork, connect to campus, and take classes locally.
“We know transportation and funding is a challenge for many of our students, so starting locally, and at an affordable rate, is a positive outcome for many residents of the Southern Aroostook area,” said Ken Ervin, assistant director.
HHACE is considered a medium size program, traditionally serving over 100 students a year in diploma courses, HiSET classes or specific employment training courses. They also serve residents in RSU 29, MSAD 70, RSU 84, and provide some services combined with adult education in RSU 50 and RSU 89.
The program is connected to Region Two CTE allowing for courses in Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), CNA-Meds, EMT, and other courses that adult students request as space allows in high school classes. HHACE has also worked with local healthcare providers Madigan Estates and Danforth Habilitation to partner together to meet training needs for CNA’s.
Local high schools also turn to adult education to assist their students with credit attainment or recovery through adult education courses and curriculum in evening courses or summer programs. This allows for a student to stay on track to graduate on time by having credits earned outside of their school in adult education applied to their high school transcript. As far as data tracking and reaching DOE goals, enrichment courses and credit recovery courses do not count in the tracking of the size of the program that the Department of Education (DOE) is collecting data on for state and federal funding.
HHACE is the local education provider for the Aroostook County Jail. “We have a great relationship with the Aroostook County Jail, and work with students to complete high school and improve their chances of reentering their communities. We also offer special employment workshops and provide a unique literacy opportunity with an accessible book discussion group.” Ervin said. “It definitely is a different educational setting, but we graduated twelve students last year, and already have graduated three this current fiscal year. Changing lives is what we do.”
