Region Two receives $1.4 million in technology grant funding

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
RECEIVES GRANT — Region Two School of Technology was the recipient of a $1.4 million in federal grant funding for technology improvements. Mike Howard, director of Region Two, and Viriginia Manuel, USDA Rural Development state director, show off some of the technology.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Taking classes offered many miles away will become a little bit easier thanks to a trio of federal grants received by the Region Two School of Applied Technology.
    Region Two was one of seven Maine organizations receiving funds totaling $3.4 million in grant money. Maine was one of 34 states and one territory to receive funds to improve access to health care and educational services in rural areas. Funding is provided through the USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program.
    Of the $3.4 million awarded, Region Two received $1.4 million.
    “This program delivers educational and medical opportunities that are urgently needed in remote, rural areas,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press release. “President Obama has said that no matter where you live in America, you should have access to quality educational opportunities. Rural Americans deserve the same opportunities for education and medical care as metropolitan-area residents, and these funds will make that happen.”
    The grants, administered by USDA Rural Development through its Rural Utilities Service, will help fund 100 distance learning and telemedicine projects across the country.
    USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel was in Houlton Friday to formally announce the grants. Manuel met with superintendents Mike Hammer (SAD 29), RSU 50 (John Doe) and AOS 48/SAD 70/SAD 14 (Bob McDaniel) for a luncheon at the Region Two school.
    “I am extremely pleased that seven Maine health care and educational organizations will receive a total of $3.4 million to support distance learning opportunities and expanded access to quality healthcare through telemedicine,” Manuel said. “From providing rural hospitals with specialized cameras, scopes, monitors, and advanced diagnostic software to funding technology in rural schools that will allow for new curricula on wind and solar energy and green agriculture, the impact of these grants will be far-reaching, benefiting individuals in all 16 Maine counties.”
    Mike Howard, director of Region Two, explained the funding will provide access for adult learners in rural Maine to improve their employability and obtain marketable technical skills.
    “There is such a big need for technology,” Howard said. “This will save a tremendous amount of time and money.”
    Howard said a match of in-kind services was required to receive the grants.
    The three grants are broken down as follows:
     • $498,249 to use with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and United Technologies Center which will deliver professional development to educators at Cooperative Extension in 16 local program offices. Computer tablets installed with video client software will be installed at the Extension offices, bringing them into the loop with collaborative-based teacher training.
    • $492,004 to allow the group to add Eastern Maine Community College, with its array of technical and skill-building classes. Another resource is the Maine College Transitions program, a high quality, cost-effective and accessible pathway to post-secondary education.  Up until now it was previously available only to areas with higher populations.  Eighteen more rural adult educational centers are introduced in this wing of the overall project as video end-points. The York County Jail and Somerset County Jail will also join the network, fitted with video conferencing equipment. As a solution for training and educating incarcerated persons, distance learning offers increased security all around for law enforcement, for the public, and for the institutions that are involved in providing that educational venue.
    • $487,693 will be used to better connect Region Two with the University of Maine at Orono and 21 other adult education centers. The group will acquire desktop video conferencing equipment and computer tablets running video client-based software. The university’s distance learning network — Networkmaine — will also acquire a new multi-point bridge and additional server licenses to support new sites with a multitude of classes and programs geared toward job readiness skills.
    Manuel said it was very unusual for one group to receive three separate USDA grants.
    “That has never happened since I have become state director,” she said. “I can only say it’s because Mike put in an exceptional application.”
    Other local groups receiving grant funds were:
    • Eastern Maine HomeCare (Caribou) received $50,000. Funds will be used to serve elderly, chronically ill and coastal populations of Hancock County, Northeastern Maine with state-of-the-art telemonitoring homecare.
    Maine representatives Mike Michaud, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins lauded the grants.
    “I’m pleased that USDA Rural Development has awarded this important funding to our state,” said Michaud. “These investments will improve access to health care and education services in rural areas throughout Maine.”
    “Many rural areas in our state lack quality access to the educational and medical facilities that they need and that could greatly improve their quality of life,” stated Sens. Snowe and Collins in a joint press release.  “This funding will utilize new technology to provide expanded service to these areas, including better home care for critically ill patients, and technical skills training for adults to improve their employability.”