The SPAN Program of Chilton County unveiled a sign for its building Thursday morning at an open house sponsored by the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce.

SPAN counselor Randy Strattis and students affixed the sign to the front of the program’s brick building located on Second Avenue in Clanton.

Formerly the City Program, SPAN (Special Programming Achievement Network) provides comprehensive academic, social, behavioral and employability skills training for high-risk teenagers in the county.

“We are very blessed to have a program like this in Chilton County for our youth,” Strattis said. “They’re not bad kids, but they’re at risk for some reason and have fallen behind a few years in school. We’re here to help them get back on track.”

Strattis and the SPAN staff hope the sign will bring attention to the program after its name change and help visitors more easily find the building.

“The 20 years that we’ve been here, we’ve helped more than 1,000 Chilton County kids get turned around,” Strattis said. “We have had between 700–800 actually graduate. We just appreciate the support from everyone. The community has really embraced this program.”

SPAN provides services and training in the following categories: assessment, success planning, academic remediation, GED training, individual counseling, group counseling, family counseling, behavior change program, physical education, recreation, motivational system, monthly evaluation of progress and transitional follow-up.

SPAN of Chilton County currently has 14 in-center students as well as a handful of students in “follow-up status” situations (earning their GEDs) or in anger management courses.

Students are preparing to put on a play, “James and the Giant Peach,” in June.

The three performances will be June 8, 9 and 15.

Donations are needed to purchase the materials for making the set, costumes and props.

All monetary and material donations are welcome and will be recognized in the program for the play.

Checks should be made payable to: Chilton County SPAN Program.

To make a donation, contact Strattis at 205-755-2779.

Contributors to Thursday’s open house were Jack’s at Exit 205 in Clanton, Subway in Jemison, Frou Frou Frocks and Brown Construction, both in Clanton.

For more information about SPAN, visit www.alspan.org/joomla.