Fair helps 80 special needs students transition to college, workforce

Matt Bower
Posted 12/9/14

Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and their parents gathered last Tuesday at Warwick Veterans Memorial High School for a Student and Family Transition Information Fair, in which …

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Fair helps 80 special needs students transition to college, workforce

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Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and their parents gathered last Tuesday at Warwick Veterans Memorial High School for a Student and Family Transition Information Fair, in which approximately 10 agencies assisted students with transition from high school to college or employment.

Agencies included Youth Works, which is part of Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP); West Bay Collaborative, which has a career development center and has done a lot of work with Warwick schools; and the Office of Rehabilitative Services (ORS), which specializes in vocational evaluations and counseling to help students with IEPs make career choices about what’s appropriate for them to be college ready or employment ready.

“Vocational rehabilitative counselors work with youth in high school toward reaching employment goals when transitioning from high school to work,” explained Nicole Corssett, who was representing ORS at the fair. “This is very beneficial for students and parents to have this information all in one spot; it’s very valuable.”

Corssett said there was a great response at both information fairs Warwick held.

“This is open to all IEP secondary students to help them figure out what they want to do and what’s out there and available to them,” said Karin Greaves, a special educator at Pilgrim High School who was instrumental in putting the fair together. “This is the second fair Warwick has held. The previous one was held in March at Pilgrim.”

Greaves said while more agencies were at the previous fair due to some last minute cancellations for the current one; the turnout was higher at the Vets fair.

“More than 75 or 80 showed up compared to 60 last time,” she said.

Greaves said as a member of the Transition Advisory Committee, she participates in monthly transition meetings for students.

“We wanted to pull together for the students and families because transition is a scary thing for students with disabilities,” she said. “Often times students enter senior year not knowing what they want to do and parents aren’t sure what they can do, so we want to get to them early.”

Greaves said the three high schools, which collaborated to make the information fair possible, wanted to offer it earlier in the school year the second time around.

“Students are making a decision about applying for college and determining which services to connect with,” she said. “This is very beneficial because there’s a wealth of information available to students and families.”

Greaves said there’s a smorgasbord of services available to students.

“If they want to look at programs, there are plenty of training and planning programs out there,” she said. “All the agencies try to come together and get the word out, but we also want parents to get more involved with their kids.”

Greaves said a special educator at each high school acts as a liaison and provides information to parents.

“We sent out a Connect Ed message as well as flyers to remind families of the information fair,” she said.

David and Barbara Ghigliotty came to the fair with their daughter, Rachael, a senior at Toll Gate.

“We’re here to gather information and see what the next step is for Rachael after graduation,” Barbara said.

Rachael said she wants to be a librarian because she likes books.

“I think this is good because you get everybody’s opinions,” Rachael said of the fair. “It’s a very good program that helps make people’s lives a bit better and it makes a big difference.”

David said he thinks information fairs like the one at Vets are very beneficial for students transitioning to post-high school jobs or college because they bring everyone together in one place.

“It’s nice to get different ideas on where to help guide children moving forward,” he said. “This is a great turnout.”

Mary Townsend, secretary on the Special Education Advisory Committee, said the fair is a great opportunity for parents to talk to other parents that have already been there and gone through the transition process.

“Finding out that no one is going to speak for them, that they speak for themselves when they turn 18; we want them to make good, safe choices,” Townsend said. “Karin does a phenomenal job. I appreciate that all three high schools are joining together to help out students and parents.”

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