Calipatria High School seniors Esteban Correa and Jerome McMillon read Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program brochures Friday during the Transitional Fair at Imperial Valley College. (Alejandro Davila) |
Graduation is coming for Calipatria High School senior Esteban Correa and that means decisions about his future are also coming.
“After graduation I want to get a job,” said Correa, 19. He is unclear on what industry he wants to work in, Correa said, he just knows that he wants “a full-time job here in the Imperial Valley.”
It is exactly this type of student uncertainty what this year’s Transition Fair held at Imperial Valley College on Friday tried to address.
Some 30 agencies placed informational booths for students in hopes of helping them plan what type of education or training they need after high school, said Norma Nava, disabled students program and services director.
Nava’s agency along with the San Diego Regional Center and Imperial County SELPA hosted the event.
At least 300 visitors attended the fair, according to Tiffany Phillips, program specialist for Imperial County SELPA.
One of those visitors was Sarah Turgeon, 17, an eloquent Brawley Union High School senior with a 4.4 grade-point average who is “pretty much trying to find a job.”
She plans to go to college, and though her real interest is music, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to go to the medical field,” she said.
“There aren’t many opportunities in music,” she said.
She needs a job to pay for her tuition, Turgeon said, and presenters advised her on different vocational training that she plans to contact in the near future.
But the fair also had information for parents, some of them parents of children with disabilities.
One of these parents was Brawley resident Jovita Vega.
At the Transition Fair she learned about different programs and resources for her daughter Kathy Arredondo, 19, who suffers from brain paralysis and autism.
“It’s good to be informed,” said Vega in Spanish, “that’s why I come every year.”
Through the Transitional Fair she’s become aware of different governmental subsidy programs that have helped her pay for things like diapers, she said.
This year she learned about the state’s Department of Rehabilitation programs and services, Vega said.
This department, among many things, helps the disabled find a job and further their education, said Juan Galvan, senior vocational rehabilitation counselor.
Vega’s daughter “is not prepared for a job,” Vega said. But she’s already more alert and improving thanks to the Imperial Valley Center for Exceptional Children, she said.
So perhaps in the next few years her daughter will start talking and then, as Vega said, “(she’ll) be prepared to work.”
“After graduation I want to get a job,” said Correa, 19. He is unclear on what industry he wants to work in, Correa said, he just knows that he wants “a full-time job here in the Imperial Valley.”
It is exactly this type of student uncertainty what this year’s Transition Fair held at Imperial Valley College on Friday tried to address.
Some 30 agencies placed informational booths for students in hopes of helping them plan what type of education or training they need after high school, said Norma Nava, disabled students program and services director.
Nava’s agency along with the San Diego Regional Center and Imperial County SELPA hosted the event.
At least 300 visitors attended the fair, according to Tiffany Phillips, program specialist for Imperial County SELPA.
One of those visitors was Sarah Turgeon, 17, an eloquent Brawley Union High School senior with a 4.4 grade-point average who is “pretty much trying to find a job.”
She plans to go to college, and though her real interest is music, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to go to the medical field,” she said.
“There aren’t many opportunities in music,” she said.
She needs a job to pay for her tuition, Turgeon said, and presenters advised her on different vocational training that she plans to contact in the near future.
But the fair also had information for parents, some of them parents of children with disabilities.
One of these parents was Brawley resident Jovita Vega.
At the Transition Fair she learned about different programs and resources for her daughter Kathy Arredondo, 19, who suffers from brain paralysis and autism.
“It’s good to be informed,” said Vega in Spanish, “that’s why I come every year.”
Through the Transitional Fair she’s become aware of different governmental subsidy programs that have helped her pay for things like diapers, she said.
This year she learned about the state’s Department of Rehabilitation programs and services, Vega said.
This department, among many things, helps the disabled find a job and further their education, said Juan Galvan, senior vocational rehabilitation counselor.
Vega’s daughter “is not prepared for a job,” Vega said. But she’s already more alert and improving thanks to the Imperial Valley Center for Exceptional Children, she said.
So perhaps in the next few years her daughter will start talking and then, as Vega said, “(she’ll) be prepared to work.”
