WHEREAS, thousands of adults in Maine are in need of assistance in order to qualify for better-paying or more fulfilling jobs, to achieve a post-secondary education, or to improve their English language skills; and

WHEREAS, success in these endeavors leads to these adults becoming more effective family members, citizens, and workers; and

WHEREAS, Maine has over 65 adult education programs to assist residents seeking to become job-ready, advance in the workplace, prepare for a post-secondary education, or increase their literacy in the English language; and

WHEREAS, adult education can often provide this assistance in a more cost-effective manner than other educational alternatives through a decentralized system that is within financial and geographic reach of anyone in the State of Maine; and

WHEREAS, adult education students vary in age, background, ethnicity, and aspirations; and

WHEREAS, Maine is dedicated to helping these students achieve the skills they need to expand their future career and educational opportunities;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim the week of September 16-20, 2024 as

Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to recognize this observance.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twenty eighth day of August Two Thousand Twenty-Four