FARMINGTON — Nancy Allen, director of adult education will be retiring from her position after 18 years in administration. Allen’s retirement was announced publicly at the Regional School Unit 9 school board meeting on Monday, Mar. 6.

At the meeting, Superintendent Christian Elkington noted how much he was going to miss Allen and her commitment to her role.

“The district was very fortunate to hire Nancy before I got here,” Elkington stated. “We’re really upset that her husband retired last year because she’s been watching him now for eight months, and we lost a good teacher and now we’re going to lose Nancy.”

“We really do appreciate all your good work,” he added.

“Thank you,” Allen said. “It was an honor to come here. It really invigorated me, but I’ve been an administrator for 18 years and I think it’s time for me to go have some fun.”

Allen’s retirement will be made official in June.

“When I retire,” Allen added, “I’m going to take some classes so I can catch up because I haven’t caught everything.”

In her administrative report, Allen highlighted the County Wide Digital Literacy program, which is a grant funded program that is currently holding sessions in Weld, Stratton, New Vineyard, Phillips and Livermore Falls with newly hired instructor Paul Haberstroh.

“You ask him anything and he knows the answers, or he’ll find it out,” Allen stated. “It’s amazing, and he’s done a great job in just a couple of weeks.”

The program first started to take shape in October of last year, when it was reported that Greater Franklin Economic and Community Development, collaborating with adult education centers at Spruce Mountain [RSU 73] and Franklin County [RSU 9, MSAD 58, and RSU 78], had secured funding for a three-year pilot program to provide free and accessible computer courses for beginners.

“People that have been laid off at the mill, they don’t necessarily have any computer skills, so they’re coming in,” Allen used as an example. “[Haberstroh] had an older woman the other day who got on her tablet and was able to watch her grandchild’s sporting event.”

According to Allen, the program is an “amazing opportunity for the community.”

Allen also highlighted the new workforce program for a CNA-MED cohort, which took more than three years to get off the ground, according to her report.

In her report, Allen stated the class is for [Certified Nurse Assistant] CNA’s who have at least one year of full-time work and can meet both the reading and math assessment guidelines.

The class is taught by Lorna Collins, RN, and currently has five students enrolled in the program. Their first class was on Monday, Jan. 30.

For more information on the Franklin County Adult Education and the courses they offer, please visit their website at rsd9.maineadulted.org.

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