Families in and around Lyon County are invited to participate in Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach’s Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14, which begins at 5:30 pm on Thursday, March 5th at George-Little Rock Elementary School in George.

“The Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 is a seven-week program for middle school youth and their parents or guardians,” said Sue Boettcher, Human Sciences Program Coordinator with ISU Extension and Outreach Lyon County.

Families from any school district are welcome to attend. Sessions will be the evenings of March 5, March 10, March 17, March 24, March 31, April 2 and April 7 at the George-Little Rock Elementary School (500 E Indiana Ave; George, IA) from 5:30-8:00 pm. A free meal will be provided to all who attend, and free childcare for younger children is also available.

“All families have strengths,” Boettcher said. “But this program is designed to help make families stronger during the middle school years – before youth enter high school. We encourage youth-parent communication and help them to set family goals. Research has shown that this improves family relationships and decreases family conflict.”

Boettcher said that during the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14, parents and youth will each cover specific topics and then come together to cover topics as a family. Some of the areas covered by the youth include: goal-setting, understanding stress, handling peer pressure and modeling respect. Parent topics range from setting reasonable limits and following through with consequences to protecting and enabling children to live a healthy lifestyle.

“We realize that families have busy schedules and committing to a program such as this may seem overwhelming or time-consuming,” Boettcher said. “We understand that some families cannot commit to being at all seven sessions, but we still encourage them to participate as much as possible. If you cannot make it a couple of the nights, that’s okay, we still welcome you to join as often as your family can. We also offer incentives – such as gift certificates – to all who participate in this seven-week program. Our hope is that the incentives will help families continue to strengthen their family relationships after the program ends.”

Families are encouraged to register online at https://form.jotform.com/4Hregion1/sfp2020 so that appropriate meals and supplies can be prepared. Questions can be directed to Sue Boettcher (712-472-2576, boettcher@iastate.edu) or to George-Little Rock Middle School Principal Karie Aeikens (712-475-3675, kaeikens@george-littlerock.org).

For detailed information, research and resources about SFP 10-14, visit www.extension.iastate.edu/sfp10-14.

The Strengthening Families Program is hosted as a partnership between Prosper Rx, ISU Extension and Outreach and George-Little Rock School District.