Finding a career after school is something which most students worry about. For some, that transition is made more challenging by disabilities or other barriers to employment. A recent Transitions Fair event, held in partnership between Partners in Employment, the Good Spirit School Division and Christ the Teacher School Division, aimed to help those students find the resources and services that could help them get employed.
Twenty exhibitors from throughout the province came to the event, and outlined the various services they can offer students. There were also presentations from the programs and from former students who have found employment through the programs offered.
Mike Shannon, Transitions Liaison for Partners in Employment, says the event is about connecting students with the many agencies and programs which can help them in their adult lives. Students from ages 13-24 attended the event, with their families and caregivers, to start making those connections.
"They can start preparing for those steps when they move out of school," Shannon says.
One of the areas highlighted during the day was Partners in Employment, and the services they offer to prepare people for the workplace.
Shannon notes that both employers and employees benefit from the program, with employers getting a work force in a time when it can be difficult to find employees, and the workers getting the opportunity to do things they might not have thought possible.
"Just to see them start in their first jobs, where everyone was telling them that they were unable to work or they can't do the job. They are able to work and they are working, they're getting their first paycheck and their self esteem increases, just their overall contribution to society," Shannon concludes.
