Transition 99 (T99) was opened through the support of District 99’s Board of education, in 2013. Since then, many students go there after high school to further their education and goals for themselves. In 2023, the T99 building was expanded to allow the enrollment to grow.
“Transition 99 is a program for 18-22 year olds with disabilities. The students who attend T99 are often ones who are not ready for employment or a college program and need support to learn independent living skills and prepare for their future. Transition 99 is very individualized and supports look different for every student who walks through the doors,” vocational coordinator Tricia Brawley said.
These students from DGN and DGS are working on their IEP goals in areas like vocational skills, continuing education skills, social, communication, and independent living skills. Each student learns so differently that there are many ways for them to improve by their time at T99. Laura Rothamer, case Manager/T99 teacher, works with students on a closer level.
“I teach students with significant disabilities to improve their independence across all areas of their lives. To prepare students to be on their own, we focus on life skills around the building. Students help make their own lunches, clean our building, and practice safe skills while out in the community,” Rothamer said.
DGN’s Intro to Teaching program recently went on a field trip to visit T99. This was to open their minds to a different learning environment and even highlight a future job opportunity for them.
“When I visited T99, I noticed a lot of similarities in what we learn but also a lot of differences. It got me thinking about if I would want to work somewhere similar someday,” senior Lauren Mall said.
Transition 99’s goals are to prepare students for next steps and it is highly individualized. In a high school setting it is focused on the whole class’s pace, but at T99 it is adapted for the student.
“I am assigned a caseload of students. This year I have 11 students on my caseload. My job is to connect with the students and their families to help create a post transition plan. We call this individual student outcomes. Each student is very individual and has different abilities and outcomes. Once we have identified students’ outcomes my job is to help prepare that student to develop skills to help them be as successful and independent as possible,” special education teacher and student case manager Patty Ladas said.
Besides learning life skills in the T99 building. The students get the opportunity to job train for businesses like Walgreens or Enterprise Rental Cars.
“I work with staff and students to prepare for employment goals. I develop partnerships with community businesses for students to job train (kind of like interning) at. Students go with a job coach and practice real jobs to prepare them for what working is like. We also work on all of the soft skills like management, problem solving, etc. that you need to be a successful employee,” Brawley said.
The students get a lot of experience throughout their time at T99. However, T99’s help does not stop after they graduate.
“The goal is for our students to be competitively employed prior to leaving and this happens a lot. Typically our students start by job training then move to competitive employment when they are ready. We take a lot of data to evaluate student progress and create additional goals. If a student is not competitively employed or is not quite ready yet we connect them to adult agencies that have programs to continue employment training,” Brawley said.
To ensure their help after graduation, there are systems in place to help them succeed in life.
“Additionally, students are enrolled in the STEP (Secondary Transitional Experience Program) through the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS). This program provides financial support and ongoing job training resources, ensuring that students continue to receive employment assistance even after leaving T99,” Ladas said.
This program has really skyrocketed this past year. Their D99 Hoops teams went to state and they held multiple fundraisers like the polar plunge. No matter what it is, check out T99.
