Bartow County co-teaching support teacher and parent mentor Kim Chester said the event — which is to be held at the Bartow County Senior Center on Beavers Drive — will feature more than 20 vendors ranging from nearby colleges to the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities and will address topics from financial planning to education.
“We tried to pull in everything from college to work-readiness,” Chester said. “Whatever would meet many of our students’ needs.”
The event also will feature guest speakers Anne Cornwell, Career Technical Instruction Coordinator at Adairsville High School, and Dottie Adams with the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities.
Cornwell will speak on graduation requirements and Adams will speak on Medicaid waivers.
Chester said child care will not be provided at the event, but there will be some entertainment for children, such as face painting. She added that although the fair will feature a presentation on high school graduation requirements, there will be areas of interest for all age groups.
“We don’t want it to just be about high school students,” Chester said, “so we’ve invited other people to come and work with some of our parents or families of younger children with special needs so those parents can see where [the family] is headed when the [student] gets out of school.”
She said the annual event offers “invaluable” resources for families of students with disabilities.
“Our goal for all of our students is to be able to lead a productive life in whichever way best suits [the student], whether it’s more school or work,” Chester said, “so we’ve kind of expanded from more of a transition fair for middle and high school students to all kind of resources so these families are supported all throughout school.”
The event will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the senior center located on Beavers Drive.
For a full list of vendors, email Kim Chester, kchester@bartow.k12.ga.us.