NOTE: Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14 Facilitator Training coming this August 20 -21 in Bellingham in English and Spanish. Expected to fill quickly. Application and more information here

Children Cope With Divorce: 2008 Program Participants

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Las Preguntas En Espanol

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Master Facilitation Training

WSU Extension Graduates Eleven Local Facilitators

May 11, 2009. Eleven students, volunteers and professionals from Chelan, Douglas, and Grant counties completed their 30-hour Master Facilitation Training on Saturday, May 9. The series of 6 classes was a partnership between Washington State University Chelan County Extension and the Wenatchee Valley Dispute Resolution Center.

Taught by Kay Haaland, senior faculty of WSU Skagit County Extension, the class combined 18 hours of on-site (in Wenatchee) training with 12 hours of training via the Washington Electronic Conferencing System (WECN) at WSU’s Chelan County Extension office. Jenn Crawford, WSU Chelan County Extension’s Human Development Faculty Educator, saw a demand which Lynn Yialelis, WVDRC’s Founder and Director, confirmed for ways to strengthen communication among groups within the community. Six of the course participants are mediators either with WVDRC or Columbia Basin Dispute Resolution Center in Grant County. Dispute Resolution Centers provide mediation services, trainings, and programs to assist people in the peaceful resolution of disputes while complementing the judicial system.

The course taught “best practice” techniques for facilitation including meeting management, building consensus, problem solving, and decision-making. Effective facilitation increases the quality of a group’s decisions, increases commitment to those decisions, and improves working relationships. It also improves communication among participants and can save time and money for organizations by the efficiency and effectiveness of their group processes. Janet Rathbone, one of the workshop attendees and Executive Director of Columbia Basin Dispute Resolution Center in Grant County commented on the course: “Great workshop! Bridging the gap between theory and practice is tough, however, instructor Kay Haaland does an excellent job using her wealth of knowledge and years of practical experience.”

Anyone looking for facilitators for any group process may call either Beth Stipe at Community Foundation of North Central Washington (663-7716), Jenn Crawford at WSU Chelan County Extension at 667-6540, or Lynn Yialelis of Wenatchee Valley Dispute Resolution Center at 888-0957 for referrals. “

" The recent Masters Facilitation class taught by Kay Haaland was an enormous opportunity for me. Not only did Kay walk us through techniques and strategies, she shared with us the true art of facilitation." — Jean Dibble, editor and general manager of Informe Hispano

"In three days since class ended, I have used skills taught, found reinforcement of concepts from other sources, and appreciated the experience, depth of knowledge, and organizational skills of our instructor. . . .This course is like good yeast to a breadmaker: the concepts bubble up with the addition of real life experience, and raise the quality level of collaborative products. . . . .Listen to the news and you'll hear dozens of uses for the concepts and skills learned in this course."-- Concie Luna, retired teacher and mediator, WVDRC