Two students from the Shelby County School District recently helped present a session at the 26th annual Alabama Transition Conference, held March 7-8 at Auburn University.

David Parsons from Chelsea High School and Parker Knifpher from Oak Mountain High School presented a session entitled “A New Look at YAiT: Putting the “Adult” Back Into Youth and Young Adults in Transition Chapters.” The two students presented along with Shelby County Schools’ work instructors Carrie Radice and Laura Partain.

Young Adults in Transition (YAiT) is a group sponsored by the State Department of Education to help develop essential life skills in high school juniors and seniors with Individual Educational Plans.  Shelby County formed YAiT chapters for all seven high schools starting with the current school year.

Shelby County’s chapter has been used as a model for the state and was awarded a $9,000 grant from the Alabama Council on Developmental Disabilities. YAiT addresses topics that are relevant to the students including post-secondary school/training, employment, and bullying.

Parsons and Knifpher shared with conference participants how each high school in Shelby County now YAiT chapters, which come together quarterly for joint group meetings.  They also shared the model for designing YAiT chapters for school systems around the state.