LEWISTON — Carol Pirruccello of Turner is the mother of four. Three have graduated from college; the youngest is a senior at the University of Maine.

Now it’s her turn.

Pirruccello, 50, is joining the ranks of students going back to school when she starts her first college class today: sociology at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College.

Pirruccello is one of four recently awarded “First Class” scholarships through College for ME-Androscoggin, a program to help older students go back to school.

The last time she was a student was 1980, when she graduated from Augusta’s Cony High School. In that year she married Joe Pirruccello, and they started a family.

In the years since, “I’ve always thought of going back to school. I just never found the time, raising children, putting the children and housework — the daily life — first,” Pirruccello said. “But the kids are really getting set. This has got to be some time for me to try something.”

She read a Sun Journal article about First Class scholarships for adults who’ve been out of school a while. She put the story aside. Her son, Jonathan Pirruccello, a new pharmacist at Bedard’s, read the article and called Joan Macri to schedule an appointment for his mother. Macri is the liaison to area colleges and high schools at the College for ME-Androscoggin, which offers the scholarship each semester to two students. Macri is also the former aspirations director at Lewiston High school.

“He said, ‘I’m going with you,’” Pirruccello said. “I said, ‘You don’t have to.’ He said, ‘I’d like to.’ He came in with me.”

Macri called Pirruccello “the perfect candidate” for the scholarship, which covers tuition of the first class. Students are responsible for books and subsequent classes.

The program also provides help navigating through the college registration process and coaching on how to get the most out of classes.

“We’re going to be touching base with her all the time, sharing what’s going on,” Macri said. One early coaching session will show Pirruccello how to use the virtual bulletin board where assignments are posted.

When students have success at their first college experience, and they’ve completed the class with an A or B, “then they’ve got the bug; they’re going,” Macri said. Students quit when they don’t have support, “run into obstacles and get frustrated,” she said.

Pirruccello plans to work on earning an associate degree, maybe she’ll go further. She isn’t sure what career she’ll end up in, but it will have to do with helping others.

She works at the Turner Primary School, where’s she been for 12 years. She is a special education ed tech, “which I truly love,” Pirruccello said. “I love working with children.” The work can be challenging at times.

“One of the best parts, and there are many, is when you have all these little kids coming in to give you a hug, or greet you with a smile on their face, happy to see you.” You can’t have a bad day when the day starts like that, Pirruccello said.

She could stay in education, or maybe go into something else. “The occupational therapy program here is one of the best in the country,” she said.

Pirruccello said she’s “excited, but also scared,” starting college. “It’s a big step. But I’ve been here several times to meet with Joan, she’s fabulous. She has helped overcome those fears going into this building as a student.”

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After 22 years enrolling ‘a little daunting’

LEWISTON — Three others recently awarded First Class scholarships are Kim Mitchell, Jaye Goulet and Lisa Dunphy. The college experience of scholarship applicants range from never having taken a class to just a few credits shy of a degree, Joan Macri of College for ME-Androscoggin said.

Mitchell, 44, of Durham enrolled in July at Kaplan University and is taking two classes. Some of her classwork will be online, some in live classes.

Married with one son, she works for Maine’s judiciary system. Mitchell has an associate degree and is working toward her bachelor’s in business

It’s been 22 years since she’s been a student. “Things have changed,” Mitchell said. She always planned to go back, “but we just didn’t have the money.”

After her husband was laid off, “that strengthened the necessary for me to further my education,” she said.

Winning the First Class scholarship, which pays for the tuition of the first course, is a help, Mitchell said. “There’s not a lot of financial aid for older students.”

The approximate costs of one class at area colleges that participate in College for ME-Androscoggin, according to Macri, is $400 at Central Maine Community College; $736 at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College; $1,200 at Kaplan; and $1,450 at Bates College.

Enrolling “was a little daunting to take that step,” Mitchell said, but she’s excited. Support from her husband will make her busy schedule work. “That’s the key,” she said.

Meanwhile her teenage son seems perplexed why his mother would do this. “He doesn’t love school. He looks at me with raised eyebrows,” Mitchell said with a chuckle. Going back is not only a chance for her to improve her career and further challenge her brain, but “an opportunity to model some good practices.”

To learn more about adult student scholarships through College for ME-Androscoggin, call Macri at 753-6625, or go to www.collegeformeandroscoggin.org/adults/money-for-college/scholarships/.