Adult education cooperative adjusts programs to ‘new normal’
Contributed • February 2, 2021
DOVER-FOXCROFT — We’ve been busy here at the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative over the last few months. 2020 challenged us in ways we never thought possible, but we pivoted, adjusted and pivoted again.
| DOVER-FOXCROFT — We’ve been busy here at the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative over the last few months. 2020 challenged us in ways we never thought possible, but we pivoted, adjusted and pivoted again. We think we’ve finally got the hang of “the new normal.” Read on to find out what’s been happening at PVAEC lately. |
| On Jan. 1, we launched the PVAEC 2021 Reading Challenge. The ultimate goal of the Reading Challenge is to encourage ourselves and you to read more. You don’t have to be a student at PVAEC to join, you don’t have to live in the Piscataquis Valley region, you don’t even have to sign up! All you have to do is let us know each time you finish a book. You can log a book using our online form at www.pvaec.org, call the office at 207-564-6525, or let any PVAEC staff know. Your name, and the name of the book you read will go on the PVAEC Reading Tree each time you log a book. At the end of every quarter, we will draw a name from the tree for a fabulous prize. Each book you read and log is an entry into the drawing. |
| As you may know, the PVAEC Library at the Penquis Higher Education Center has grown quite popular over the last few years. The PVAEC Library is a collection of books staff and students alike donate to and borrow from frequently. We’re not allowed to let the general public into the building right now (and academic students are coming in by appointment only), so last week we rolled out our no-contact “PVAEC Free Little Library.” The PFLL is located under the awning at the gym entrance of the PHEC building at 50 Mayo Street in Dover-Foxcroft. You’ll also find a donation bin for your gently used books. Each week, we will change out the books in the PFLL so there is always something new to borrow. The rules for borrowing books are quite straightforward; there aren’t any! If you borrow a book and decide to keep it or pass it onto a friend instead of returning it, that’s okay! Remember, our goal is simply to inspire you to read more! Join the reading challenge at www.pvaec.org. |
| This week, we introduced our first ever Zoom with PVAEC — Intro to Zoom! It was a small group, but staff and participants had fun socializing and figuring out the various controls and features of Zoom together. The idea of “Zoom with PVAEC” was born through PVAEC staff’s desire to stay connected with our community. We have two main goals. First, we want to make sure you’re comfortable using Zoom. Our second goal is to provide a social experience for those of you who may be feeling isolated as we continue to live through the Covid Crisis. We will provide quality content and fun discussion topics to keep you entertained.
Zoom with PVAEC is free and brought to you by the PVAEC team. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Hilda Roberts at 207-564-6525 or email hroberts@pvaec.org. If you would prefer a one-on-one tutorial, please contact PVAEC Technology Instructor Leah Gomes at 207-564-5883 or email lgomes@pvaec.org. Register for Zoom with PVAEC at www.pvaec.org.
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| Now, we shift our focus to planning for our Spring 2021 Enrichment Brochure. As you may have heard, we decided to postpone our spring offerings until later in the year. It is difficult to plan for things that will happen a few months from now when we don’t even know how the world will change a week from now. We are hopeful that things will soon improve, and as they say, it takes great faith to envision spring in the midst of winter. But, we need your help! We’ve been considering planning for online/Zoom enrichment courses, and we’ve been in touch with other adult ed programs in Maine who have found success going this route. We’ve got some good ideas, however, we need our community’s input! While the health and safety of our staff, students and community are our top priority, we are also well aware of the lack of reliable internet access, technology literacy, and the negative effects of social isolation on our students and community. We’ve put together a brief survey for the public to help guide us through the planning stages of our Spring 2021 Enrichment Brochure. The survey can be found on our Facebook page and at www.pvaec.org
The PVAEC is a collaborative formed in 2005 that combines four school districts SAD 4 (Guilford), SAD 41 (Milo), AOS 94 (Dexter) and RSU 68 (Dover-Foxcroft), with learning centers in all four districts. PVAEC offers adult education programs in Central Maine. We offer everything from enrichment, high school diploma, HiSET, college transitions, CDL-B, and CNA courses. For more check out our website at www.pvaec.org. |
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