UMaine Senior Named Outstanding Continuing Education Student from New England

Contact: George Manlove, 581-3756
photo available upon request

ORONO — The University Continuing Education Association New England has selected UMaine senior Lauren Sterling of Waterville as the Outstanding Continuing Education Student from New England.

She will be honored at the UCEANE annual conference in Hyannis, Mass. on Oct. 28.

An extraordinary student and public servant, Sterling personifies the “quintessential continuing education student,” says Bob White, dean of Lifelong Learning. A childhood survivor of Rhabdomyosarcoma, she has engaged life with the joy of having had a second chance, he says.

A senior in the Bachelor of University Studies program at UMaine, Sterling has pursued her education part-time since 1981, working full time and making extraordinary community contributions through volunteer public service along the way. Over the past 15 years, she has provided leadership in prevention programming for children and youth through direct service and through her involvement with numerous committees and collaborative efforts, according to the Division of Lifelong Learning.

She also has played a large leadership role as primary staff to the Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet and its various initiatives. A Waterville resident, Sterling has volunteered as co-chair for the Greater Waterville’s Communities for Children and Youth Coalition since its inception in 1996. Under her leadership, the coalition has received more than $5 million in grants for youth development.

White calls Sterling “truly an outstanding continuing education student” because of her persistence and dedication.