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Fairfield schools, ISU Extension offer class on parent-child communication
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FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Community School District and ISU Extension and Outreach have partnered to offer a new program serving families with children ages 10-14, aimed at improving communication between kids and adults, and nipping behavioral problems in the bud.
The Strengthening Families Program is in its inaugural year in Fairfield, now into its second semester and second cohort of families. The group meets 4-6 p.m. on Sundays at Fairfield Middle School, where parents and kids have separate programming for the first hour, before coming together for a joint program, with a meal, for the second hour. Adults watch videos and have group discussions about how to solve problems with their youth including how they can make better decisions, resist peer pressure, and manage their emotions. Meanwhile, the youngsters engage in learning games and hands-on activities.
Jay Thompson, Fairfield school district’s K-8 Success Coordinator and School Counselor, leads the adult discussion, while the youth are led by Courtney Burkhalter and Abby Dingman of Jefferson County ISU Extension, and Bethany LaRose, community support specialist for the school district, who also helps with the parent session. All of them attended a three-day training through ISU Extension to be leaders on this course, and Thompson said the money for the program has been a great investment.
“Our goal is to give parents and families the tools to not just survive but thrive through the pre-teen and teenage years,” he said. “For every dollar spent [on the program], about $10 comes back to the community because there’s less drug treatment, less juvenile court involvement, and fewer things that put these kids at risk, because their family has been strengthened.”
Burkhalter said all families have strengths, and the program seeks to identify those strengths and build on them. In the youth sessions, the leaders talk about what’s stressing parents out, and they talk about how to avoid peer pressure. They talk about how, as they get older, they get more freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility.
Thompson said the adults talk about how to balance “love and limits.”
“Teens and pre-teens might act like they don’t want love, but love can come in different forms,” he said. “They need to know you love them, but also that you’re willing to set limits. We talk about how to deal with negatives in a positive, loving way. We don’t have to scream at our kids when they get in trouble at school. We can let them know we love them, but there are still consequences.”
Thompson said he’s already gotten some feedback from students about how the classes are working.
“A kid who I meet with on weekly check-ins asked me, ‘What did you do to my parents? Nothing’s wrong, but they’re just way different now. It’s just weird,’” Thompson said.
The program can accommodate up to 10 families, though there are four families who have been attending regularly during this second semester. Burkhalter said they’re trying to secure funding so they can offer the program again during the 2026-27 school year.
This program is made possible by the Fairfield Middle School, Jefferson County Extension, and Jefferson County Opioid Funding. For questions, reach out to Jay Thompson at jay.thompson@fairfieldsfuture.org, Bethany LaRose at bethany.larose@fairfieldsfuture.org at Fairfield Middle School, or Courtney Burkhalter at the Extension Office at 641-472-4166 or cburk@iastate.edu.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
