Located in Gateway High School
12 Littleville Road • Huntington, MA 01050
(413)685-1052
Live Local / Learn Local
Mission Statement
The Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center is a community resource for adult learners, where the individual's education and career goals are supported in a learner-led environment. Students can study math, science, reading, writing, social studies, computers and other subjects that enhance workplace skills and encourage leadership. The Center honors and welcomes the rich diversity of its community of learners and teachers.
Who we are
The
Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center has its main classroom in room 152
of
the Gateway Regional High School Complex. SHAEC was started in the summer
of 1999 as an extension of the UMass Labor/Management Workplace Education
Program. It is funded by a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Mass Dept. of Housing and Community Development. SHAEC is a
small part of a larger grant that funds capital improvements to small towns,
such as street, road, and sidewalk improvements. A portion of the grant supports social service agencies, such
as SHAEC. Other social service agencies served through the grant include The
Huntington Food Pantry, The Hilltown Domestic Violence Task Force, The Hilltown
Elder Network, Hilltown Social Services, and local Low income Housing
Rehabilitation Grants. The current CBDG grant was applied for by the Pioneer
Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), through the lead town of Russell, in
partnership with Chester, Huntington, and Middlefield.
What We Do
SHAEC provides the only adult education program for the
Southern Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. SHAEC’s programing encourages
workplace readiness skills, which include computer skills, High School Equivalency Test (GED) preparation, Job search and work readiness programs, and
support for small business owners in the Southern Hilltown region.
We strive to meet the needs of the residents in the
communities that we serve. Through a network of community volunteers, SHAEC has
been able to expand its offering to include classes that encourage and promote
sustainability and creativity, as well as offer classes in all of the towns we
serve.
Our focus has continued to be on Adult Basic Education and
Computer literacy, but has also grown to include classes in Sustainability. The
Friends of SHAEC funded the start of the Countryside Community Garden, where
individuals and families can grow organic food to help feed their families.
Classes to support home gardening have included such topics as building a hoop
house greenhouse, identification of garden insects, having a compost pile, permaculture,
and companion planting, just to name a few. Other classes encourage the preservation
of garden produce, such as pickling and canning. More recently, thanks to
community volunteers, SHAEC has offed
classes in home cheese making, and looks forward to classes in beekeeping, and
raising Sheep, utilizing wool, and other sustainable farming classes.
How We do it
SHAEC
has been able to offer such a wide variety of classes thanks to partnerships
with community organizations and businesses. For example, SHAEC has partnered
with the Russell and Chester Senior Centers to be able to offer computer
classes in the Senior Centers free of charge, as well as in the Middlefield
Town Hall. SHAEC has partnered Jacobs Ladder Business Association, as well
as the regional Community Development Corporations (the Hilltown CDC and the
Franklin County CDC) to offer a number of quality classes to support small
businesses in the region. Many JLBA members have offered free classes through
SHAEC, such as Stu Besnoff of Alpine Solar Heat and Hot Water in Windsor, who
taught a series of classes on Renewable energy. Many classes are taught by community members,
who would like to share their expertise with others.
How You Can Help
There are many ways you can help. Consider volunteering to teach a class, or perhaps join “Friends of SHAEC”, a non-profit, fundraising and support
group to help keep SHAEC alive during the leaner times, and to fund classes
that are not under the specifications of the CBDG grant.
You can also help by hanging
flyers in your community, or help in other ways to advertise our classes,
such as posting them on social
networking sites.
If you believe quality, adult education is important in the
Hilltowns, and would like to help out the Friends of SHAEC in their fundraising
efforts, please contact us at SHAEC for our next meeting date and time.
If you would like to donate to the Friends of SHAEC, our mailing
address is SHAEC, 12 Littleville Rd, Huntington, MA 01011. Contact us with your
thoughts and ideas at 413-685-1052 or email us at Southernhilltownsaec@gmail.com