Merrymeeting Adult Education, which provides adult education to local school districts, has announced it will continue virtual programming into the fall, as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program has been offering education online since the pandemic forced the closure of school buildings throughout Maine in the spring.

“There was a lot of fear in March,” said program Director Allen Lampert in a news release. “I was so impressed with the staff’s ability to work their way through their individual situations and figure out a way to make it work. Even when it was difficult, I never got a sense from the staff that they were not willing to try to make this work for our students.”

Merrymeeting Adult Education provides adult education in districts including Maine School Administrative District 75, Brunswick School Department, Wiscasset Middle High School and Regional School Unit 1. They also partner with other community agencies and facilities like Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.

Educational programming includes high school completion, College Transitions, English Learning and workforce training classes.

“We had a number of students who were close to getting their High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) and now had some time to do it. We’re now planning on bringing them back one at a time for graduation,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources or capacity to lend out devices, but most of our students have access to a smartphone, which is essentially a minicomputer,” Lampert said. “If you have one and want to take a distance learning class, you can do it.”

Teachers can also mail classwork to students when the need arises.

Community enrichment classes, which range from “Farming with Native Plants” to “Opening an Airbnb” to watercolor instruction will continue online through the fall. Area residents can expect to receive a catalog with course offerings by mail in late July.

“I think it [the sudden change to virtual learning] was almost a gift,” said Dawn Wheeler, Site Coordinator for Bath and Wiscasset. “I think this opens up a whole new way to deliver education to our communities. We’ve taken steps to look at some strictly online activities, which will be great to have during the winter months and flu season when people don’t want to leave their homes.”

The classes also benefit older and/or health-compromised students who lack transportation or are otherwise unable to leave their homes easily. Lampert encourages people to visit the MAE website (merrymeeting.maineadulted.org) and explore their course offerings.

“There are very few [adult education programs] in Maine with a full suite of online classes,” said Lampert. “None with the capacity and depth that our program has.

“None of this would be possible without the dedication of our staff,” he added. “This is the best adult education staff in the state bar none.”