Pam Moody, director of the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor CSD Adult Education program, gave a compelling presentation to Rotary and its guests June 6. Pam has over 40 years of experience in adult education and was the program director in Bath for 10 years before coming to the peninsula a year ago. Pam outlined that learning is a lifelong process and the adult education focuses upon encouraging learning and preparedness for all ages as well as meeting the needs of the local community.

Areas of programming can include Basic Literacy including English as a second language, workforce readiness, high school completion, career and technical training, and college transition. Under Pam’s leadership, the local program now offers a certified high school completion course, which replaces the old GED. Areas of study include reading, writing, social studies, science and math. Fifteen local students are currently enrolled.

Pam’s passion for what she does was clearly evident in her presentation. Particularly poignant were the family literacy project where in effect parents learned how to be their children’s first teacher, and the fact that Pam created many of her own materials to teach adult learners. The need for Adult Education in our community was made apparent by Pam’s presentation. In Maine, 3,625 working age adults are without a high school diploma and are on public assistance; 827 youth (16-24) are without a high school diploma and are unemployed and not enrolled in school.

The June 6 meeting of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club coincided with the 75th anniversary of World War II’s D-Day invasion of Normandy by the Allied troops. Rotarian and U.S. Naval Academy graduate Steve Demeranville shared an excerpt from FDR’s D-Day prayer and several remembrances of the event were shared throughout the evening: It went like this: “Men's souls will be shaken with the violence’s of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return.”

Join us on June 26 at 4 p.m. in the windjammer parade https://www.boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org/street-parade Ride on the Rotary parade “float” and throw out candy to the kids or ride in front with Bob Jacobson in his antique Cadillac. Leaving from Boothbay Region High School and proceeding downtown and ending at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

June 13: In conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and the Boothbay Region Arts Foundation, Rotary invites the public to stop in at Rotary and view a selection of well known artists who are exhibiting their works from 5:30-7 p.m. Donations go to Polio Plus in order to achieve eradication of polio throughout the entire world. This has long been one of Rotary’s major commitments and has motivated the Gates Foundation to partner with us. For information contact Sandra Leonard or Alice Mutch 410-353-3861.