Pleasant Valley High School hosted its annual Transition and Community Resources Fair for students and their parents on April 19.

Julie Harris, director of special education, said this year was the first time the school district has partnered with Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 to host the event for the entire Monroe County.

“Through this partnership, we were able to secure 42 different community service providers from around the county,” Harris said.

In previous years, the event was held during the school day, but that prevented many of the families from attending.

“In an effort to revive this event, we decided to hold it in the evening in the hopes that more families and community members would be able to attend,” Harris said.

Harris said the event was organized by Kerry Freeman, the transition coordinator for the school district.

“She has been the driving force behind this,” Harris said.

Freeman said the fair is primarily for families with children with special needs, but many of the service providers who attended also provide services for all types of families and children. The information provided was everything from banking options to job coaching and job shadowing opportunities, as well as postsecondary education options and recreational and volunteering opportunities.

“This fair is so important, because many people have no knowledge of the plethora of services available to them at the county level,” Freeman said.

Many families don’t know where to start when seeking services for their children, she said.

“They don’t know where to go. This fair helps them to find service providers,” Freeman said.

Harris said the school districts in the county “do an excellent job of referring families to various agencies/services, but there are still families, in my belief, that may be uncomfortable to ask for help. This provides them a way to find assistance without having to go through the schools, if they are feeling uncomfortable about asking for assistance.”