Lewiston Adult Education staff with Patti Saarinen (middle) of Eastern Maine Development Corporation celebrate receiving the Community Service award on Dec. 7. Pictured in the front row are Director Jen Tiner and Assistant Director Razell Ward. Josee Castonguay, Fatma Saad, and Gerry Gibson of Lewiston Adult Education stand in the second row.
Eastern Maine Development Corporation awarded Lewiston Adult Education its 2023 Community Partner award during its annual meeting in December.
Patti Saarinen, director of Workforce Services for EMDC, presented Lewiston Adult Education with the award recognizing a person or organization that has made an impact in the community.
“Not only do they provide excellent academic and occupational skills training, but they were one of the first adult education programs to embrace workforce services. It was in collaboration with them that we developed our first cohort training to meet the needs of five construction companies. With their input and expertise, we created a model for employer-driven training that we’re still using today offering students opportunities in fields such as culinary, office skills and health care,” Saarinen said.
Lewiston Adult Education was also a leader in designing programs and work readiness training for new Mainers, she said. One example was the Healthcare Pathways program in which students begin in a foundations class learning the terminology related to health care professions before learning specific job skills. The model helped Lewiston receive one of the state’s 14 apprenticeship grants.
“As the WIOA Service Provider in central/western Maine, EMDC is very appreciative of Lewiston Adult Education’s assistance with CASAS assessments, referrals, collaboration on mutual customer outcomes, and willingness to explore new opportunities. We are grateful to have such a wonderful group of people to work with and are proud to present the whole team with our Community Partner of the Year award,” Saarinen said.
EMDC is a nonprofit organization that helps to develop public-private partnerships to encourage economic growth. Lewiston Adult Education provides academic programs from basic skills to preparing for college, digital skill building and workforce training. Programs are open to all adults from Lewiston and the surrounding area.