Parenting programs build confidence for employees and students

Elena Conway

17 Aug 2026

A young child reads a book with a teacher, and points at the dog in the picture. — The free programming offered by the Early Childhood Education Initiatives throughout the year give attendees confidence in their role as working parents and caregivers. Photo by Ally Seaver for Virginia Tech.

How do you get children who are picky eaters to try new foods?

Stefanie Locklear ’12 and her husband initially signed up for the Early Childhood Education Initiatives’ (ECEI) educational programming to find answers to this parental puzzle and others like it. But what began as a search for parenting support soon became a source of community, encouragement, and fun.

Navigating parenthood one class at a time

ECEI connects employees and students with experts on child development and education through its free classes offered to Virginia Tech employees and students. Topics range from finding child care to preparing seniors for college, meaning participants can find guidance for any stage of their child’s life.

Locklear said that hearing from experts about these topics helps take pressure off as a parent, and she found the guidance to be both practical and gradual.

For picky eating, for example, the class presented small steps caregivers could take to gradually introduce new foods over the course of a couple of months.

In another class, participants learned ways to keep kids active during the cold winter months.

“Our family actually implemented some of those, like setting up an obstacle course in our house,” said Locklear. “It’s easy to get stuck in survival mode with parenting and lose the fun and creative part of your brain. These classes provided ways to bring some fun back in without having to exhaust a lot of your own mental energy.”

The topics are determined by recommendations from the ECEI Advisory Working Group, made up of faculty, staff, and students who are often caregivers themselves, as well as by popular demand.

More than information

Kim Thomason, director of ECEI, said the purpose of the programs is to give attendees confidence in their role as working parents and caregivers. It’s also to build a sense of connection between the participants, both with each other and with the wider community.

Locklear found them effective in that regard.

“Parenting can feel really isolating,” said Locklear. “It’s nice to hear what other people are going through, which were a lot of the same challenges we were managing.”

Many of these programs are offered in collaboration with outside partners, such as NRV Cares, and connect participants with local resources and family-friendly events.

They are also just one way ECEI provides support to caregivers at Virginia Tech, which include ongoing partnerships with child care centers in Blacksburg and Roanoke, back-up care resources, and confidential office hours to ask questions related to parenting and work.