Capital News Service
Wednesday October 16th, 2002
Across the state, students with disabilities are getting new hope for a productive future. Wednesday was the second annual National Disability Mentoring day and fourteen Florida cities are taking part. In Tallahassee, students and others with disabilities met their mentors at Datamaxx, one of the state’s high-tech firms. They spent the rest of the day on the job with their mentors learning what a high-tech career is all about. Both mentors and students see the program as a great learning opportunity. “Businesses are a leader in our community, they’re the employers, and many folks with disabilities are left out of the employment arena for perceived, sometimes real barriers, and this creates an opportunity to break down those barriers,” said J.R. Harding with the Department of Education.
10th grader Caitlin Inman said, “I just want to find out what it’s like in the work force and see what people do.”
Coordinators of Disability Mentoring day hope students will come away with a better idea about how they can some day make a living and also make a friend at the same time.
For more information about the nationwide project visit
www.dmd-aapd.org
Christina Bailey