TALLAHASSEE, FL—The Director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Jim DeBeaugrine, will mentor a student as part of Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) tomorrow, October 20. DeBeaugrine is one of several APD employees who will act as mentors for DMD in Tallahassee.

Two students will participate in DMD at APD’s headquarters located at 4030 Esplanade Way, Suite 380. DeBeaugrine will be matched with Kevin Graham, a student in the Lively Transition Program. Graham will shadow the APD director to learn about leadership and public service. Another student Garrett Dudash will be paired with APD’s Graphic Designer Kimberly Tharpe. Dudash is a sophomore at SAIL school and is interested in a career in graphic design.

The APD Tallahassee office, located at 2639 North Monroe Street, Cedars Suite B-100, will host six students for the day. In addition to job shadowing at APD and PATLive, the students will take a tour of ITT Technical Institute to learn about additional educational opportunities.

APD Director DeBeaugrine said, "DMD is a valuable employment experience for young people trying to decide on their career path. It is also a wonderful opportunity for the mentors to get to know some members of the future work force."

DMD is celebrated nationally on the third Wednesday of each October as a chance for students and job seekers with disabilities to participate in a one-on-one job shadowing experience. This is the 10th anniversary of the state of Florida participating in DMD. This year, more than 4,000 individuals in all 67 counties across Florida will be participating in DMD.

The agency annually serves about 35,000 Floridians with developmental disabilities of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and Prader-Willi syndrome. For more information on the agency, call 1-866-APD-CAREs or visit http://apdcares.org.