'Dinner on Us' sharpens parental skills

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

Tiffany Sparks (left), a junior Legal Studies student with a 4-year-old son, shares a Dinner on Us meal with junior Journalism major John Ciampa, 4-year-old Michael Ciampa and Amy Ciampa, '96. (Sarah Buchholz photo)

pproximately 25 parents and 36 children gathered for pizza, salad and cookies in the Student Union Feb. 3 as the first installment of a semester-long weekly program, Dinner on Us. Run by Commuter Services, the program provides students who are parents and some Amherst community parents with a meal for themselves and their children and with educational programming.

     Auxiliary Services donated the dinner, which began at 5:15. Parents and children ranging from infants to 11-year-olds sat at tables in the Earth Foods dining space, eating and talking together. Just after 6 p.m., they split up.

      "The kids have supervised play activities in the Cape Cod Lounge and the parents are in a workshop in the Dukes Room from 6 until 7:30," said Joanne Levenson, director of Commuter Services.

      Most of the parents and children in the room seemed to know each other and everyone from parents to older children to other students who staff the Cape Cod Lounge where the children play seemed to be taking care of any child within reach. Interim dean of students Gladys Rodriguez stopped in during dinner to greet the participants and staff and see the children.

      "The program is [known by] word-of-mouth," Levenson said. "Our students act as our recruiters. In fact, we have to turn people away. We have a long waiting list."

      Kathy Niedzielski, chair of the board of the Amherst Family Center came as a community member. Commuter Services is slated to assume oversight of the family center from Hampshire Community Action Coalition sometime this spring. A parent herself, Niedzielski said she was interested in the programming for the evening, a talk by Dr. Kate Atkinson of Amherst Family Practice, who discussed medical care for children.

      "The programming is very impressive," she said. "It's very useful in covering a lot of areas that I've been trying to study on my own - and it's all in one place."

      "Parking Services gives us passes for the parents," Levenson said. "[Retail Food Services director] Brenda Ryan-Newton provided the food. It's one of those things that does take intra-campus support to work."

      Speaker Atkinson is herself an alumna of the Dinner on Us program, which she attended as a student. She's returned for the past three years as a resource for the program, Levenson said.

      During the workshop, participants asked questions about the prudence of using antibiotics and vaccines, breast-feeding, what to keep in a medicine cabinet, and which type of thermometers are best. They shared experiences of the emotional demands of caring for sick children. Most of the parents in the group are mothers, but four fathers also participated.

     At the end of the workshop, participants were given readings for the following week. In addition to learning tips for parenting, approximately half a dozen students get academic credit by arranging the workshops as part of independent studies, Levenson said.