Press release from the Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County:
30 to Graduate from Inaugural Parenting Class in FWCS
New Rising Stars Ministry Fosters Collaboration
Success of Program Results in Requests for Locations and Languages to be Expanded(December 14, 2010) – Thirty individuals celebrated graduation ceremonies for completing parenting classes at Study Elementary School, Wednesday, December 15th. Participants who attended all four sessions received certificates of completion along with a $25 gift card to a local store.
These first time classes were the result of the newest ministry of Associated Churches, Rising Stars, sending out Community Connectors to elementary schools to discover their greatest needs. Free parenting classes offered in English and Spanish with free childcare was one of the first requests. Tomi Cardin, Community Connector to Study Elementary, explains, “Once we knew the need, we went about collecting the necessary resources. Organizations were recruited and worked really well together.” The classes, referred to as STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting) were taught by Youth Services Bureau. Additional support came from Fatherhood Coalition, Kool Smiles, Youth for Christ, Gethsemane Iglesia Christina Church and Faith Baptist.
As a result of the positive experience, four other Fort Wayne Community Schools have expressed interest in adopting the format including adding a Burmese session.
For more information regarding Rising Stars Ministry, (which replaced the former Weekday Religious Education program) visit the Associated Churches website.
About Associated Churches
Founded in 1944, Associated Churches is a group of over 130 congregations best known for its Food Bank System, A Baby’s Closet, and Rising Stars Ministry. One of the goals of Rising Stars is to “work with schools and area churches to build community, cooperation, and provide support to the children, their families and the schools.”
Webmaster’s note: The above press release was slightly edited to shift from the future to the present as this was distributed before the event.