What is the SPICE Program?

SPICE IS:

• Working with you to set goals that work for you and your family

• Support for the parent, the child's first and most influential teacher

• Learning together about literacy skills to help you and your child

SPICE is NOT:

• Setting your goals for you

• Judging you as a parent

• Judging your home or living situation

• Criticizing either parents or children

• Telling you how to raise your child

SPICE Students can work in their homes with a teacher who comes to them.

They could be working on:

• HiSet Preparation

• High School Diploma

• Goal Setting

• Career Readiness

• Reading & Writing

• Math Literacy

• Financial Literacy

• Technology Skills

“Your innovative approaches for leveraging technology to match your learners’ needs is so powerful. We are excited about telling your story, connecting you to other innovative thinkders in this field, and supporting you as you continue to think about how best to support your learners.”

~Susanne Nobles, Ph.D

Senior Manager of Strategic Outreach

Adult Learning and LPS

On Wednesday, November 2, Senate President Michael Thibodeau, R-Winterport, attended a ceremony at the Mount View Complex to present a legislative sentiment in recognition of the Library of Congress award.

Thibodeau congratulated adult education staff members and said the Library of Congress award was one of the many reasons residents take pride in their schools.

(Above) Pat Hughes, Director and Michael Thibodeau, Senate President presenting the SPICE Program

with a Legislative Sentiment

Superintendent Paul Austin traveled to Washington D.C., recently to accept the award on the district’s behalf. While there, Austin said he had a chance to speak with “some of the most brilliant people in the world,” while also coming to the realization that literacy, or lack thereof, is a problem that stretches far beyond the district’s Waldo County borders.

It is a global issue. It’s an economic issue,” Austin said. “It’s the number one issue facing us today.”

Austin said RSU3 was the only public education institution to receive the Library of Congress Award.

On a more local level, Austin noted that in RSU3, which comprises of 11 towns spread across 440 square miles, around 15 percent of adults ages 25 or older do not have a high school credential. Furthermore, in 2015, the median income in Waldo County was $27,848-about 33 percent less than the national median income.

“What we do is incredibly important. I congratulate SPICE for your hard work and for your vision,” Austin said.

The SPICE program started in 2000 through a Federal Even Start grant. Now, the program is funded with local contributions and support from the Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation. The program has received a number of honors and awards since its creation.

Patricia Hughes, Adult Education Director, thanked current and previous staff members for their work in the program.

The Library of Congress Literacy Awards are administered by the Library’s Center for the Book, which was created in 1977 by Congress to “stimulate public interest in books and reading.” A public-private partnership, the center sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for affiliated state centers for the book and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival, according to the news release.

The awards are sponsored by the philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, who originated the awards program in January 2013.

(Above) At the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Banquet in Washington, D.C.

(Below) Liza McFadden, President and CEO Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and Dr. Paul Austin, RSU3 Superintendent of Schools in Washington, D.C.

A ceremony will be held on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 10:30AM at the Mount View Performing Arts Center honoring the Student & Parent in Cooperative Education (SPICE) Family Literacy Program. Michael Thibodeau, the Senate President, will be presenting the program, a legislature sentiment, for winning one of the Library of Congress awards for literacy promotion worldwide.

RSU#3 SPICE FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAM WINS AWARD

The 2016 Library of Congress Literacy Awards were announced by Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, at the National Book Festival gala on September 23, 2016. RSU 3 Adult & Community Education, Students & Parents In Cooperative Education (SPICE) Family Literacy Program from Thorndike Maine will be one of the 14 programs in the world to receive $2500 for their implementation of best practices in literacy promotion from the Library of Congress.

The awards honor organizations working to promote literacy and reading in the United States and worldwide. The awards recognize groups doing exemplary, innovative, and replicable work, and they spotlight the need for the global community to unite in striving for universal literacy.

Members of the RSU3 SPICE program are Patricia Hughes, Tammie Leach, Marie Roberts and Amanda Winchenbach. Dr. Paul Austin, RSU 3 Superintendent of Schools, will be travelling to Washington DC on October 27, 2016 to accept the award for the program.

The winners were selected from among applicants in both the United States and abroad. These 14 organizations are:

Afghanistan Center at Kabul University, Kabul;

• Cell-Ed, Los Angeles;

• Chicago Literacy Alliance, Chicago;

• Ethiopia Reads, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;

• GIZPCP, Kabul;

• Library for All, New York;

• National Center on Adult Literacy, Washington, DC

• International Literacy Institute, Philadelphia;

• NCLANA, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand;

• New York City Department of Homeless Services, New York;

• Rumie Initiative, Toronto;

• Sipar, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;

• Students and Parents in Cooperative Education, Thorndike, Maine

• Ze Peao School Programme, João Pessoa, Brazil.