Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
(Lewiston, Maine)
Program Overview: Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center is a State of Maine, Department of Education approved special private purpose school. All ALTC employees are Maine DOE certified and highly qualified in accordance with federal and state standards.
ALTC functions as a concurrent “service school” for the sending school district. Students attending ALTC will receive credits from and work toward the diploma requirements of their sending district.
Academics:  ALTC is an educational facility designed to assist secondary students prepare and embrace the realities of life after school. In an era of assessments and standards, educational programming has often become a narrow and limiting obstacle for students who are not necessarily wanting, or ready for, outcomes associated with attending college. Yet 75% of 2008-09 graduates are now attending a university.
Social Work Services: Social work services are integrated throughout all aspects of the program and school day. Licensed professionals provide individual and group counseling, parent collaboration, and agency/community resource networking.
Transition Planning: Ultimately, transition planning is about students leaving school and entering into independent living, the work force, or other post-secondary scenarios. ALTC is committed to supporting students as they explore and prepare for healthy and positive outcomes. Through the use of research-based vocational and aptitude assessment methods, the proven “Career Choices” curriculum, community integration and partnerships, and vocational exploration, students begin to understand and develop the skills needed to identify and achieve their life goals.
Latest News at ALTC
ALTC's Chemistry Science Project
November 2009, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
Two Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center chemistry students recently designed their own experiment for class. They posed the question of "Will water change color if you place cut-up autumn leaves in it?" Students employed the scientific method to conduct their experiment:
- Ask a question
- Conduct research
- Construct a hypothesis
- Test your hypothesis by conducting an experiment
- Analyze the data and draw your conclusions
- Communicate your results!
After researching and testing their hypothesis, the students learned that decomposing and decaying leaves do, in fact, change the color of water, typically to a reddish-brown color. This is usually caused by the chemical and minerals such as carotene, which gives the leaves their natural orange/yellow color. was a pleasure, as well as informative, to work with Becket employees outside of our usual work environment. I applaud the staff for their professionalism and desire to learn new skills. From generous feedback, I learned that our participation in the conferences was well received and that reflects on us all in the Becket Family of Services.
ALTC's Annual Open House
October 2009, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
On Thursday, October 8th, ALTC hosted their Annual Open House from 4:00 to 7:00pm for a chance for parents and friends of the community to stop by, say hello, and meet their outstanding staff and our new director, John Fulp.
The night was a very excellent opportunity to have some personal time with all of the parents that stopped in. We would like to thank the Becket House at Litchfield, and especially Cathie, for the amazing food, including the most excellent chili! The whoopie pies were to die for, as were the homemade brownies with chocolate ganache deliciously placed upon them!
ALTC Welcomes John Fulp
October 2009, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
The Becket Programs of Maine is proud to announce its newest administrative addition and transplant, John R. Fulp. John has worked for nearly 8 years with the Becket Family of Services of New Hampshire as a Program Director of 4 separate at risk youth facilities and as the Principal of a Special Education day school called The Life Centered Learning Institute in Tilton, NH. John brings with years of experience and capabilities to manage all aspects of leading, operating and evaluating educational institutions.
Along with his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Law. He holds both Special Education Administrator and Teaching Certifications in NH and is in process to gain his Maine State Special Education Administrator certificate.
“I pride myself on the supportive and collaborative leadership style I have evolved, which fosters a safe and growth oriented aura. My teachers and students know that they have the room to be creative and grow yet the structure to ensure that all faculty and students receive the opportunities and educational experiences they deserve.”
We are very excited to be under John's leadership. We wish him the best of luck here in Maine!
A Trip to the Apple Ridge Farm
October 2009, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
ALTC recently took a trip to Apple Ridge Orchards in Auburn, ME. It was a beautiful day for a trip to the farm! When we arrived, they taught us about the storage and refrigeration process. They actually seal up the room and sucked out all of the oxygen. That leaves only nitrogen, which helps to preserve the apples. Oxygen will speed up the deterioration process.
Then, we were given some bags to go pick some apples. The macs and cortlands were delicious! After that, we returned to the farm and got some fresh pressed apple cider. You would be hard-pressed to find any better cider! It was yummy! They gave us some feed for the farm animals and we went over to visit them. There were goats, pygmy goats, baby sheep, a couple of cows, silky chickens, turkeys and ducks. We then headed back to the school to go home for the weekend!
ALTC's Geocaching Adventures
September 2009, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
Staff and students at Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center discovered a new adventure for experiential learning this summer called geocaching.
This fun, interactive, hands on activity is like a treasure hunt – hiking with a purpose. The only equipment needed is a hand held GPS unit.
The first thing the group did to get started was to create a free account on the geocaching.com website. This account gives access to geocaches available (over 800,000 in the world). ALTC’s favorite way to find a geocache to hunt for is to use the google maps search link on the site. This provides a list and map of caches that are hidden in a particular zip code. As of August 31st, ALTC has searched for nine caches and successfully found six.
ALTC proudly posts their “finds” and a listing of their searches on a bulletin in their classroom with a map & pins. The adventure this summer has taken ALTC students to Lisbon, Auburn and Lewiston. They even found one that was hidden on the school's property that was hidden by someone else! Geocaching incorporates science, math and geography into many experiential learning opportunities!
Experiencing Beaver Park
August 2009, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
Beaver Park, located in beautiful Lisbon, Maine is now one of ALTC’s favorite haunts of the summer. We have been there fishing several times, had several cookouts and cleared much debris from the trails to help out the Ranger Brooks.
Being in the water, waist deep and hooking on to a small mouth bass, a white or yellow perch and even catfish have all been very exciting activities for our students. Everyone has caught fish this year, and we are looking forward to catching many more out of one of the three ponds that are available.
The cookouts have been wonderful, using one of the many fire pits that are provided to the guests at Beaver Park. Nothing tastes better than food cooked over charcoal briquettes! We have even toasted marshmallows and made many tasty s’mores!
Clearing the trails was one of our group’s service learning projects. Everyone had a great time and wonderful conversation as they cleared the miles of trails so that Verla Brooks, the Ranger who lives on the premises, could mow and keep them maintained for public use. The Lisbon High School Cross-country team also uses the trails for their practices and meets in the fall.
We look forward to using Beaver Park as an outdoor classroom for science and experiential learning opportunities as the school year draws closer and making sure that we can experience nature at its best, right down the road from our school.
ALTC's Winter of Volunteering
February, 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
 The Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center has been very busy this winter helping out their community through much hearty volunteering at "Lots to Gardens." Lots to Gardens is a program through St. Mary’s Hospital in which vacant lots in Lewiston and Auburn are turned into Cooperative Community Garden Spots. While there, the group painted fences that will be assembled later this spring. ALTC volunteers cleaned and oiled garden tools preparing them for use during the garden season. Later this month, they will be doing light demolition to ready the lots for storage spaces.
ALTC is looking forward to much more volunteering opportunities as well as excellent learning at Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center to finish up this winter. Everyone is eager for spring to arrive so they can get outside and help out more at Lots to Gardens, Rural Community Action Ministry and many of the other wonderful places in the area that we volunteer for Service Learning!
Wire Art at ALTC
October, 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
The students at the Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center have been working on using simple wire to create artistic representations of different things in their Art class. One of the students started his creation by building a human figure and adding a guitar to it to begin his rock band. He went on to add a complete drum set with the toms, snare, cymbals, kick drum, throne and pedals with another human figure as well to his wire-man band. Another student built a farm tractor with moving tires and steering wheel to represent his growing up on a farm and something he enjoyed, his farm work. It was quite an enjoyable process watching the students create these structures in class using simple wire, needle nose pliers and their imagination. One student even created a wonderful wire dragonfly for his mother, which after many frustrating attempts at the wings finally became a success that he deemed complete.
ALTC's "Summer of Giving" Finale
August, 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
Where did the summer go? Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center has accomplished so much this summer through the "Summer of Giving" tour! With the goal of volunteering in each of their students' towns, the group first ventured off to Winthrop, ME. Here, everyone enjoyed a little bit of gardening and landscaping as they “remodeled” a traffic circle garden. Everyone pulled weeds, cultivated flowers and mulched.
Next, ALTC traveled to Sabattus, ME and volunteered with the Convent of the Dominican Sisters. This was truly a very moving experience for all as they washed windows and cleaned up where needed for the sisters.
Another ALTC charitable event was helping out at a local farm in Wales, ME. At the Sanborn Farm, they harvested tomatoes, cucumbers and visited the cows for a little while. As a thank you, they received corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash to share with everyone back at the house. One of the students, Devan, has accepted a paying job at the farm! Way to go Devan!
The final event was to help out at the Oxford Fair Grounds and prepare for the upcoming Fair. The group mowed lawns, weed whacked, painted, swept, moved rocks, and even shingled the roof of a Gazebo!
There is still more work to be done, ALTC has many events lined up for this fall including more work at the Good Shepard Food Bank, The Androscoggin County Day of Caring event, harvesting and setting up Farm Stands for "Lots to Gardens" and volunteering at St. Mary’s Hospital. What an incredible summer!
ALTC's "Summer of Giving Back" Part Two
August 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center has been very busy so far this summer season. “The Summer of Giving Back” has made a significant impact on ALTC students and the communities they have been serving.
The first undertaking was to complete the deck for a handicapped gentleman who lives in Auburn through John F. Murphy Homes. The kids and staff replaced all of the decking, the rails and the balusters. We finished by building new steps and rails. The kids helped out so much and they have every reason to be proud of themselves.
Our next event was volunteering at the Good Shepard Food Bank in Auburn. We enjoyed the company of several other community members and each other as we sorted the various food items. The kids realized how much this establishment does for our community and for the entire state of Maine.
The next mission we accomplished was our volunteering day in the town of Lisbon. We went to Beaver Park, which is a conservation park run by the town of Lisbon. ALTC faculty and students spent the day cleaning the park buildings. As a reward for helping out, the kids were allowed on to fish at the park for free. The group caught a total of 38 fish over both days!
Our most recent trip was to the town of Hartford where we worked with their selectman, Lee Holman. We painted the outside of Town Hall and cleaned out the frog-filled basement. We had a wonderful day there and plan on going back in the fall.
And just so everyone doesn’t think that we work every day, we also have had a lot of fun! We played nine holes of golf at Pine Acres in Auburn and had a wonderful lunch at Roy’s hamburgers. We went for a tremendous hike at Bradbury Mountain State Park where we also got to do some geo-caching and mining in the area. The kids and staff have had an excellent summer of working, learning and fun. Stay tuned for part three next month!
ALTC's "Summer of Giving Back"
July 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
ALTC students recently traveled to the town of Norway, Maine to participate in an inspiring service learning experience. The Progress Center in Norway assists children, families and adults who have various disabilities. The Center is currently building a park and a handicapped accessible walking trail in memory of one of their long-time clients who has passed away recently, Matt Record.
ALTC students learned the names of several trees and bushes and helped tag them so they would not be cut down. Honeysuckle, raspberry and birches were the most popular ones to be saved. Everyone pitched in to clear brush, clip bushes, and cut down trees by hand. The ALTC group planned, dug and planted an herb garden around the flag pole using cobble stone and loam; making a beautiful addition to the park.
On the ride home, staff was filled with pride and accomplishment as students shared their thoughts of how the day went. One student stated that this was the best trip he’s had was glad he could help out. Another student thought he never would have worked so well with the people he met today, but ended up swapping e-mail addresses so that he could come back and volunteer on his own.
To continue “The Summer of Giving Back,” staff and students will be “on tour” through Maine to spread out their community service and enjoy a days of hard work, picnic lunches, and memories to last a lifetime.
Service Learning in Maine
May 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
Each week, students at Becket House of Maine's Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center (ALTC) take part in a Service Learning activity. Teachers Christopher Ivey and Zachary Wentzel lead the students in designing and building various additions to the school. The students and staff have recently created a tool transportation box to assist them in their off-campus projects. The group has also designed and built a suggestion box that now is in place and available for student  usage. Each student is shown the proper handling and safety techniques for the power tools they utilize through Service Learning activities.
ALTC has recently acquired a new table saw and router to enhance student education with power tool education. Students and staff participating in our summer school program will also be involved in several community based projects. As part of this project, students are going to represent their individual community and assist in small projects in their home towns. These small projects are designed to use Service Learning to strengthen bonds with their community.
Scavenger Hunt at University of Southern Maine
April 2008, Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center
 Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center's "Transition to Independence" class met with the University of Southern Maine's "Social Policies" class to participate in a cooperative learning experience.
Five students and four staff from ALTC went to USM's Lewiston-Auburn Campus for an integrated tour and scavenger hunt. Each ALTC student partnered with a USM student and tackled the scavenger hunt together. The teams had to find various locations throughout campus. Teams were expected to find the Art Gallery, Writing Lab, Student Services Center, the Billing Office, Registrars Office, Science Lab and Book Store. They practiced signing up for a course and buying the books that went with that course.
Students and staff also participated in a course titled "Science and Technology in Today's World." In this course, ALTC students, staff, and USM students partnered in a cooperative activity that demonstrated how technological advances in our world may cause global changes in society. One group discussed the pros and cons of how a Nationwide Microchip Protocol would affect society and our privacy as humans.
As a final activity, the group was asked to share something that they learned throughout the day. Everyone had a positive experience to share that dealt with everything from how powerful the Art Gallery was, to how much easier it will be to sign up for courses now that they have practiced. The scavenger hunt was a great way to open our students to the benefits of college, allow them to become familiar with campus and student life, and encourage them to further their education.
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