Parent Educator, 2024 Q2
Blanche Waggoner, Extension Agent, B.S., M. Ed.
Blanche.waggoner@ndsu.edu
Hello! It is hard to believe that we are half way through the 2024 year. The spring was filled with classes, trainings and events.
April:
Gearing Up for Kindergarten Parenting Education kicked off in February and concluded in April. During this 10-week course, we had 60 parents signed up with about 25-30 attending each session. I received useful feedback from the parents and I am looking forward to continuing to partner with Williston Basin School District to keep this program going. Positive Discipline 6-week class was held at the North Star Human Service Zone lobby conference room, with 3 parents attending weekly. The class went well with many interactive parenting tools being shared and parents feeling comfortable to share about their families. I co-facilitated Keep Con-nected on zoom. We had 3 caregivers and 2 teenagers join our 3-week class. We will be offering it again soon. I attended a 4-day zoom class to become certified to facilitate Baby Sensation also known as Infant Massage in other states. To facilitate this class, I need caregivers of babies ages 6 weeks to 8 months to attend 1 hour/week for 5/weeks of class. Baby Sensation is a tool that helps babies with colic, digestion, sleep patterns and attachment. April was a big month for Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota events. I attended some Community Events to share resources and information. Community Easter Egg Hunt held at the Williston Community Library and the Kids Day Out Community Event held at the Williams County Fair Grounds. For both events, I had a table set up with information for parents regarding Child Abuse Prevention, PCAND swag, parenting classes and resources in the area. Our big PCAND events were the Free Community Events- Prevention is Possible: Keeping Children Safe from Sexual Abuse with speaker Lindsey Burkhardt, Director of North Dakota Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Task Force. On April 16th, we held the event at the Lutheran Brotherhood Church Williston, ND 6:00-7:30pm- Go Wireline sponsored a BBQ dinner. We had twelve adults sign in for the event and three children for childcare services. Mrs. Burkhardt presentation was very informative. All the participants were entered into a drawing for an assortment of books that was on the book recommendation list from PCAND. All participants drawn got to choose the book of their choice. We received valuable feedback from the survey the participants took at the end of the presentation.
May:
I attended a 3-day training in Fargo to be a facilitator for REAL COLORS. REAL COLORS is a tool used to open better communication and understanding by learning more about yourself and those you live and work with. The Parent Educators had our annual 2-day meeting in Fargo. During this time, we discussed many things, a few were our program plans, grant funding and our State Parent Advisory Council schedule.
June:
All about the fairs. I judged for the McKenzie and Williams County Fairs. I also assisted where needed during the week of the Williams County Fair. Hooked on Fishing Not Drugs community event, I shared information about our programs that are available and resources for preventing child abuse.
I am planning for programming in the fall. As always, please click the link below for upcoming classes and events.
