As its 10th birthday celebration approaches, Adult and Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard (ACE MV) is expanding its curriculum to help train the Island workforce.

ACE MV now offers courses in four major categories: education, health care, technical training, and business.

“Our focus is now more credit-bearing programs in college credit and licensure for working Islanders,” executive director Sam Hart said in a recent interview. The organization has historically offered not-for-credit enrichment courses in subjects like languages and cooking. Mr. Hart said ACE MV founder Lynn Ditchfield laid the groundwork for new programs, creating a relationship with Cape Cod Community College and reaching out to Fitchburg State University, among other things.

Mr. Hart is the only full-time staff member of the organization, but with the help of Island partners including the high school, Vineyard Transit Authority and the hospital, it has been able to grow its offerings to support the Island workforce.

This coming Saturday, ACE will host a fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. at the West Chop Club to introduce community partners and raise money for programs. MIT professor Paul Osterman will lead a talk titled Charting Courses.

This year, ACE graduated its first class of 19 adults who received their master’s degree in education on the Island.

Olsen Houghton chairs the history department at the high school and was one of the graduates from the master’s degree program. Several years ago, he commuted off-Island to Bridgewater State University once or twice per week to get a teaching credential. The program lasted a year.

“The whole experience of taking a program off-Island was pretty insane,” he said. After some evening classes, he had to spend the night on the mainland.

“My wife would pick me up at ferry with a clean shirt, a new tie and a cup of coffee in the morning,” he said. She would take him straight to work.

“Onerous was the operative word there,” said ACE MV program director Jeannine Lenehan. “That put a huge financial burden on people.”

Now ACE has partnered with Fitchburg State to offer college credit in the education and health care fields. Ms. Lenehan is in charge of finding instructors on the Island to teach courses.

“We identify qualified teachers here in the community, and we get them vetted through Fitchburg State University to teach,” Mr. Hart said.

Half the courses for the master’s program at ACE are taught on the Island; the other half are taught by Fitchburg State instructors online.

“The class is always coming back together as a group. It keeps them cohesive, it keeps them strong,” Mr. Hart said.

Each credit-bearing course costs between $500 and $1,000. The master’s in education program tuition is about $12,000.

Those looking to further their education in medical fields can also take credits through ACE MV. Offerings include credit-bearing classes in medical terminology and pharmacology, both of which are required for many certificate programs in health care professions like medical assistants and diagnostic technicians.

Mr. Hart said the organization hopes to offer more health credits in the future.

ACE MV also offers technical courses for licensure in other fields. It recently graduated three full classes of food service workers in the ServSafe program.

The program also hosts a construction supervisor license class available for contractors and a hoisting license to operate excavators, backhoes and other equipment. Mr. Hart said both classes are typically full.

“We’re trying to remove barriers for adult learners, basically,” Mr. Hart said. “That’s the key.”

ACE MV’s anniversary celebration and fundraiser will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at the West Chop Club on June 23. The event will feature a talk from MIT professor Paul Osterman followed by live music from the Phil daRosa project. Tickets are $50 and are available online and at the door.