SOUTH PARIS — Patricia Haney and Shannon Moxcey will represent the University of Maine at Augusta and Central Maine Community College in this year’s Aspire Higher parade on Saturday, Sept. 25. The parade will begin at Oxford Hills Middle School and will end at the Gouin Football Field.

The parade is an annual event to encourage the community youth to continue on to achieve higher education degrees. For many people, going to a college or university can seem impossible. Western Maine University and Community College of the Oxford Hills provides services for students who are currently taking college classes and for people with questions about educational opportunities available “right here in our own back yard.”

Prospective students can come to WMUCC in South Paris to learn more about the courses, certificate and degree programs available. Staff can work with students in all of these areas. The Career Resource Library, placement testing and academic advising are available to anyone wanting to become a university student.

Moxcey began taking University of Maine at Augusta classes in 2002, and received her Bachelor of Science in mental health and human services in 2006. She was able to complete all of the course work for her degree locally. Because of the flexibility and services offered at WMUCC, Moxcey was able to take classes while working and raising her two children.

Earlier this year, she earned her master’s degree in adult and higher education from the University of Southern Maine, and this fall her oldest daughter became a UMA student and will also take the majority of her classes at the WMUCC campus in South Paris.

After being employed in accounts payable, Haney found herself laid off. Seeking assistance for dislocated workers, she came to the Career Center located within the Western Maine University and Community College Center. She applied and was chosen to participate in the Competitive Skills Scholarship Program, which is open to all qualified Maine residents and pays for education and training for jobs in demand in Maine.

Thirty years after being out of school, she started classes in the spring semester of 2008 as a CMCC student in the general studies associate degree program at the WMUCC. The ability of taking courses locally was very appealing as Haney has Cowden’s Syndrome, a rare disorder the causes multiple noncancerous tumors and increases patient’s risk of developing certain types of cancers.

In 2009, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but she remained a full-time honors student while undergoing treatment and a double mastectomy. In December, she will graduate from the general studies program and will reapply to CMCC for admission to the nursing program for the fall 2011 semester. Haney lives in West Paris with her son Kern Patrick.

For more information, contact WMUCC at 743-9322.