Lewiston adult ed teacher named Teacher of the Year

LEWISTON – A lawyer who changed careers to teach adult education in Lewiston has been named Teacher of the Year by the Maine Adult Education Association.
Jessica Trimmer, who joined Lewiston Adult Education in 2006, received the award at the MAEA annual convention June 22 in Portland.

Trimmer worked as a lawyer for four years, and tutoring international students at the University of Southern Maine as a University of Maine School of law student got her interested in teaching, according to a news release. Trimmer has taught Adult Basic Education, English Speakers of Other Languages and citizenship classes in addition to assisting inmates at the Androscoggin County Jail get their high school equivalency diplomas.
She credited her fellow teachers at the Adult Learning Center with helping her when she first started and for their continued support. Trimmer, who teaches intermediate English, said her students’ work ethic impresses her and how some may know from six to eight different languages.
A comment she heard in class from a student talking about community got her thinking about the overall mission she has. “It struck me because the learning center is a place where we come in from different communities and become one,” she said.