PAE was featured in this video from Boston TV Station WCVB
2019 Vision Day
On Saturday, April 6, 2019 the Yarmouth Lions Club, Portland Adult Education and the Friends of Portland Adult Education worked together to provide vision care to 23 immigrant students who did not have any resources to pay for eye exams or corrective lenses. The efforts were a continuation of efforts started by Jane Cleaves, past President of the Yarmouth Lions and in whose honor a vision fund has been established by FPAE.
Teachers at Portland Adult Education identified the 23 students whom they believed had vision difficulties that impeded not only their school work but also their daily lives. Lions members volunteered to provide transportation- including a van to transport the students. The dedicated members of Eyecare Medical Group, including 2 ophthalmologists and 9 technicians volunteered their time to provide free screening services and prescriptions. With prescriptions in hand, volunteers and students went to the Scarborough Walmart Vision Center to fill their prescriptions. The store’s professional staff were gracious and flexible.
By the numbers: 17 students received prescription glasses, 1 student was recommended for cataract surgery (covered by Medicaid), 2 students were referred to the clinic for glaucoma screening and 3 were given reader glasses.
A job well done!
Field Trips to Presumpscot River Preserve and Fore River Sanctuary
This fall, three classes of English language learners learned about the nonprofit group Portland Trails and its work to create a network of trails throughout greater Portland. Lois Winter, a trail steward and advisory board member of the group, led the classes on field trips to the Presumpscot River Preserve and the Fore River Sanctuary. FPAE paid the cost of the two trips. This article was written by Nancy Fox’s ESOL 4 class.
When we learned about trails in Portland we talked about Presumpscot River Preserve. We were very excited to discover it and enjoy our trail in Portland.
Last Thursday our class went to field trip at Presumpscot River Preserve. We went to visit and learn about Portland Trails.
We learned about trees, flowers, mushrooms, leaves, moss and the River. We saw stream, tall trees, tree leaves, tree bark, mushrooms, flowers, pine cones and acorns.
We heard birds sing. We smelled the natural air. Then we touched berries, bark, acorns and lichen.
We saw the river. It was flowing slowly and curly water. We heard the river’s sounds and bird sounds too. We learned that 100 years ago the river was not good because of the pollution, but now we have clean river.
We heard waterfalls that made a lot of noises. At the falls the water was falling very quickly. Also the water became white because there are many rocks and the water made bubbles. The water made sound like the noise of wind.
On this field trip the most we like was trail and beautiful natural environment. We felt very excited and everyone was happy about the Portland Trails.
The time we spent there was short and exciting, so we hope to return again to discover a lot more things. We would like to return to this preserve on our own.