By Natalie Roach
A group of 20 students enrolled in associate professor Brent Barlow”s MFHD 403R class will host a free symposium this Friday, March 6, entitled “Building Better Relationships.”
The relationship conference will take place in the Harman Building from 7 to 9 p.m.
Some class topics include “Learn to Fight Right,” “Until Debt Do Us Part,” “I Do, I Did, What Now?” and “Graduating Single?”
The students presenting these topics are part of the community education class which focuses on going out into the local communities and school districts and teaching students better communication skills.
“We do one of these little workshops every year,” Barlow said. “We”ve recently gone into the Granite and Davis school districts and presented similar workshops. Now we are presenting it for BYU students, both married and single.”
Those attending the conference can choose between 14 different classes. One set of classes will be presented at 7 p.m. and the other set at 8 p.m., Barlow said.
Krissy Eckholdt, 20, a senior from Austin, Texas, majoring in marriage family and human development, is one of the students in this research class.
“This semester we have been out teaching juniors and seniors in high schools how to improve their communication skills and strengthen their relationships,” Eckholdt said.
Also heavily involved in this project is Dave Schramm, 23, a senior from Payson, Utah, majoring in marriage, family and human development.
Schramm serves as an advisor to the students in the research class, teaching them how to teach, he said.
The class has presented its workshops to PTAs in the Cottonwood and Granite school districts and they have also taught mini-classes to students taking the preparation for marriage class, Schramm said.
“This class has really taken off. We are starting to branch out,” Schramm said. “Next year we hope to educate junior high kids about the dangers of pornography.”
The relationship symposium this weekend is for everyone, whether they are single, engaged or married, Eckholdt said.
