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Program promotes family bonding
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Austintown Middle School hosted the first of a seven session program on April 4 called Strengthening Families. The members do different activities to help parents and their children create a stronger relationship.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Families who participated in the Strengthening Families program at Austintown Middle School on April 3 worked on an activity given to them by the instructors of the program.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Austintown Middle School is hosting a seven session after school program called Strengthening Families April 4-25.
Mahoning County Family and Children First Council (MCFCFC) works with the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund (OCTF) to bring this program to places around the community. The sessions are used to help bring families together and strengthen communication between everyone.
The program is designed for children ages 10-14 and their parents or guardians. The different activities for the sessions are designed to enhancing the relationship between the parent and their children. Aside from strengthening family bonding, the sessions provide an opportunity to work on drug and alcohol prevention and peer pressure.
“They’ll do some family activities together. It may be looking at a family shield, what does our family agree on. Another cool activity they do is they draw a family tree. It’s not about who’s in it, it’s about the roots, what grounds you, the strength is the trunk and the leaves are the individuals and their talents,” said Rachilla Basista, Administrator at Mahoning County Family and Children First Council.
Each meeting will start with a meal for the children and their parents to share. After the meal, the parents and children are divided into two different rooms to have their own class discussion. The parents and children then come back together to work on an activity that focuses on strengthening and what they learned in their class session.
The program is available throughout the county for schools and organizations who would like to host it. The only thing required from the host is three open rooms in the facility to use.
MCFCFC uses the funding they receive from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund to work with individuals trained in the curriculum to facilitate the sessions. MCFCFC also uses the funds to contract with those who work in childcare to provide supervision for younger children and with vendors to provide the meals.
There is no cost to families who wish to be part of the program, everything is provided.