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| Windham Raymond Adult Education will transition to online classes and online registration because of COVID-19 restrictions. A digital catalogue of courses offered by the program this fall will be available for the public at the end of August. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE |
Across America and even right here
in Windham and Raymond, a movement is under way for adults to learn new career
skills and knowledge and transform their lives, especially as the country
struggles in the age of COVID-19.
Through the years, Windham Raymond
Adult Education has been a path taken by thousands of adults by providing a range of instructional services to
help them develop skills for further educational opportunities, job training,
find better employment, and to realize their full potential as productive
workers, family members and citizens of the community. As the fall term nears,
many Windham Raymond Adult Education classes will be offered online because of
COVID-19 but it hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for the program.
“We provide a safe place for students to learn, to get back on their path.
We also help them to continue to navigate that journey, helping them to
overcome barriers to their persistence with us. All of which helps to assist
with their social and emotional well-being,” said Thomas Nash, director
of Windham Raymond Adult Education. “Adult education
not only contributes to our adult students’ educational attainment, but their
employment options, their health and family development.”
Nash said that the program sees its students
as the original ‘interrupted education’ population.
“Adult education supports parents/caregivers
role in their child’s education, helps train essential workers, assists in
creating digital literacy and equitable digital access, assists with immigrant
integration and ‘poverty reduction’ getting adults of all ages the skills they
need for new jobs or moving up the career ladder as the economy shifts,” Nash
said.
He said that some students take classes to
transition to new careers more relevant in the 21st century, while
others are looking to prepare to take the HiSET, the high school equivalency
exam. Others have enrolled to better their computer skills, to earn their high
school diploma, to complete English as a Second Language classes or for health
and recreational purposes.
With a staff of about 75 instructors, Windham
Raymond Adult Education was offeri8ngt about 300 different classes each year
before the pandemic struck.
Nash said that many of those classes will
continue to be offered to adult students except during the pandemic, they are
being shifted online.
Along with online classes, registration for fall
classes offered by the program will be available only online this fall.
“Our entire catalogue of fall classes will be
available online at the end of August,” Nash said. “We will not be mailing out
a catalogue this fall. We used to conduct in-person registration, but because
of COVID-19, we changed that to strictly online registration.”
Because of the shift to online classes and online
registration, Nash said Windham Raymond Adult Education is striving to stay as
connected as possible to students without seeing them in person every day.
“Establishing relationships during the day and
age of COVID is a challenge,” he said. “Some students preparing for the HiSET
may not do as well need away from the classroom and need all the support and
encouragement we can offer to them. We are trying to do the best we can given
the circumstances related to the pandemic.”
Nash also said many in the community enjoy
Windham Raymond Adult Education classes, such as yoga, so it’s disappointing to
the staff not to see those people. It takes away opportunities people had, but
it is a reality that we have to deal with.”
For many adult students, making the transition to
online classes won’t be new.
“We transitioned to online classes in the spring
because of the pandemic,” Nash said. “Some classes continued that way this
summer.”
According to Nash, the feedback Windham Raymond
Adult Education has received about online classes has been mixed.
“Some had reservations at first,” he said. A lot
depends upon the level of the course they were taking. But other students were
accustomed to learning online and were fine with it. The verdict is still out
if many of the fall classes will lend themselves to that format.”
He said that the program is doing all it can to
provide the best experience for adult students this fall and believes that this
could be a genuine opportunity for some students to continue to explore what
courses are available at Windham Raymond Adult Education or through other
nearby schools online.
“Some students may find classes elsewhere that we
do not offer and discover they are able to sign up for those classes through
the remote option.” <
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