Razell Ward, Director of MSAD 52 Adult Education, was recently named Adult Education Administrator of the Year by the Maine Adult Education Association at their annual conference in Orono.

Ward has been active in adult education for over 18 years, first as a lead teacher for MSAD 52 Adult and Community Education and then for the past eight years as the MSAD52 director. She formerly worked as a social worker for various community agencies.

A passionate advocate for adult education in Maine, Ward strives to keep adult education in the spotlight. She has visited our U.S. Senators in Washington D.C. to raise awareness of adult education issues and invited such notables as U.S. Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Jared Golden to participate as commencement speakers at graduations.

“Razell is a visionary,” wrote program advisor Josee Castonguay in in her nomination statement. “She intuitively sees the trends and feels the changes in adult education before they happen. She supported our teaching team to align content with standards before it was a requirement and to create lessons relevant to real life. She expects teachers to define and post lesson goals and objectives so students can understand the ‘what and why’ of what they are learning. She challenges us to learn new teaching methods and to differentiate instruction for multi-level classes. In  short, she pushes us out of our comfort zone.”

“Razell provides us with opportunities to attend national conferences to help us expand our horizons, meet new people, and make important connections,” stated MSAD 52 Adult Education Curriculum Coordinator Melanie North. “We always return feeling inspired and excited to practice what we have learned. These opportunities strengthen our team. Teams like ours do not come by accident; they are nurtured into existence. We feel valued, important to the program’s success, and appreciated as individuals.” 

“Razell insisted on the development of educational standards in an effort to improve rigor in adult education and to ensure that students receive an education that helped them find meaningful careers,” stated MSAD 52 Adult Educations Lead Teacher Bryan Brito.

The Maine Adult Education Association is a professional non-profit organization that advocates for adult education at the local, state, and national levels. Ward has worked with the MAEA as a board member, conference chair, and president. She  has now assumed the role of recruiting vendors and inviting national keynote speakers to the conferences.