TURNER — Razell Ward, director of Maine School Administrative District 52 Adult Education, was recently named Adult Education Administrator of the Year by the Maine Adult Education Association.
Ward is a passionate advocate for adult education in Maine and has visited Washington D.C., to bring awareness to the congressional delegation of the important work and happenings of adult education in the state, according to an MSAD 52 news release. Ward strives to keep Adult Education in the spotlight and has recently invited notables such as U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, to participate as commencement keynote speakers at graduations, the release said.
Josee Castonguay, advisor for the program, said in her nomination, “Razell is a visionary. She intuitively sees the trends and feels the changes in adult education before they happen. She supported our teaching team to align content with standards before it was a requirement, and to create lessons relevant to real life. She expects teachers to define and post lesson goals and objectives, so students can understand the what and why when they are learning the content. She challenges us to learn new teaching methods, differentiate instruction for multi-level classes, and,in short, she pushes us out of our comfort zone.”
Melanie North, MSAD 52 adult education curriculum coordinator, said, “Razell provides us with opportunities to attend national conferences to help us expand our horizons, meet new people and make important connections. We always return feeling inspired and excited to practice what we have learned. These opportunities strengthen our team. Teams like ours do not come by accident, they are nurtured into existence. We feel valued, important to the programs success and appreciated as individuals.”
Bryan Brito, lead teacher for MSAD 52 Adult Education, said, “Razell insisted on the development of educational standards in an effort to improve rigor in adult education, and to ensure that students receive an education that helped them to find meaningful careers.”
Ward has worked with MAEA over the years as a board member, a conference chair, president, and now has taken the role of recruiting vendors and inviting national keynote speakers for the conferences.
Maine Adult Education Association is a professional non-profit organization that advocates for adult education locally, statewide, and nationally. Adult education programs support members in order to meet the educational, training, and personal needs of Maine’s adults.
