Events

January 13, 2026 | 6:30PM - 8:30PM

Transition planning is an important part of preparing students with disabilities for life after high school. This webinar will provide students, parents and families, educators, and community partners with practical information to help turn transition goals into meaningful plans and real-life experiences.
Participants will learn how to:

• Develop effective transition goals as part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP).
• Use person-centered planning to identify a student's strengths, interests, preferences, and goals for adult life.
• Support student-led IEP transition planning and increase student involvement in the process.
• Build and engage a transition team that includes educators, families, service providers, and professionals from outside agencies who may support the student during and after high school.
• Connect IEP transition goals to meaningful experiences and opportunities in areas such as employment, postsecondary education, independent living, and community participation.
• Develop a coordinated plan that helps students move from planning to actual experience as they prepare for adulthood.

The session will emphasize collaboration and practical strategies for creating transition plans that reflect each student's individual goals and help build a path toward the life they want after high school.

Featured Speaker: Hillary A. Mangis, Ph.D.

Hillary A. Mangis, Ph.D., is an Educational Consultant and Special Projects Statewide Lead for Secondary Transition with the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) West. She has more than 20 years of experience supporting students with disabilities, educators, families, and systems to improve outcomes for students transitioning to adult life.

Prior to her current role, Dr. Mangis served as a PaTTAN Educational Consultant and Statewide Lead for Secondary Transition and also supported the School Psychology and Intensive Interagency Initiatives. She previously served as Coordinator of Special Education and Student Services and as a School Psychologist with Carlynton School District, as well as a school psychologist with West Allegheny School District and Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3. Earlier in her career, she worked as an Outpatient Social Skills Therapist and Psychometrist with The Watson Institute and Allegheny General Hospital.

Dr. Mangis' work focuses on secondary transition, systems change, person-centered planning, employment, postsecondary education, interagency collaboration, and improving post-school outcomes for students with disabilities. She is passionate about helping schools and communities move from viewing transition as the responsibility of one individual to recognizing it as everyone's job.