Fatherhood Buzz - Back to School Initiative: Effective Strategies for Increasing Father Involvement in Schools 
Thursday August 23, 2012 - 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM (EASTERN)
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) is providing a technical assistance webinar for all responsible fatherhood practitioners, including current OFA grantees, and other interested stakeholders. The webinar will provide ideas and resources to help increase father involvement in schools and their children’s education. Information will be provided on various initiatives that have helped engage fathers and father figures, inspire children, reduce bullying, and generally improve the educational environment in order that men may become more involved in the lives of their children.
Goals of Webinar: After this training webinar, participants will improve their knowledge and understanding of:
- The importance and impact of father involvement in schools.
- Strategies that fatherhood practitioners can use to engage with local schools and school districts in order to increase father involvement in schools and improve outcomes for children.
- Resources and tips for fathers to help them increase their involvement in schools and their children’s education.
Moderator: Dennis Bega, Acting National Director of Regional Operations, Office of Communications and Outreach, US Department of Education
Presenters:
- J. Michael Hall, President and Founder, Strong Fathers - Strong Families
- Betsy Landers, President, National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
- Philip Jackson, Founder and Executive Director, The Black Star Project
Facilitator: Patrick Patterson, Manager, National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse
Visit our Webinar section for details on how to join the webinar!
Fathers, uncles, male mentors, grandfathers, brothers, and community leaders recently gathered at the Café at Chicago Vocational Career Academy in Chicago, IL to share what men can do to increase their involvement and support in the lives of their children—especially their education.
The Department of Education (ED) was honored to sponsor the event alongside other federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services as well as father serving organizations such as Black Star Project, Watch D.O.G.S., the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative and Real Men Charities.
Participants at the Roundtable, Café at Chicago Vocational Career Academy in Chicago, IL
Approximately 45 men attended from multiple ethnic and cultural backgrounds. A panel of fathers and experts shared their experiences and research that affirmed the positive role of fathers in the lives of their children. Panelist Dexter Chaney, one of ED's Teaching Ambassador Fellows and a Chicago assistant principal, explained a principal's perspective on parental involvement. In his remarks, he linked parental involvement to ED's efforts to motivate parents to be partners in their children's learning. Other panelist included
- Kenith Bergeron, U.S. Department of Justice;
- Norris Stevenson, IL Department of Healthcare and Family Services;
- Elliot Mark, Family Resource Center on Disabilities;
- Walter Jones, Fathers Who Care;
- Kirk Harris, Fathers on Healthy Communities Initiative;
- Carl West, MG Media/Truth B Told News Service; and
- Ian Stroud, Citywide American Indian Education Council.
One young father, in his late teens, said the message should be "taken to the street." He shared his feelings of isolation without a job and family supports. The group challenged this young man to return with his friends to a follow-up meeting. Attendees also challenged each other to go to their neighbors and friends encouraging them to become involved.
As a result of this session, monthly meetings will be held to continue the dialogue. A larger Fathers Forum is scheduled for May 5, 2012 at Odgen School in Chicago, IL.
Shirley Jones serves within the Department of Education Office of Communications and Outreach for the Great Lakes Region.
In response to the call by President Obama to strengthen fathers and families, the NFL Players Association shared the initiative with players, encouraging them to showcase the role of fathers and mentors in their communities.
Ran Carthon, a pro scout with the Atlanta Falcons, responded to the call with an innovative idea: The Fatherhood Ticket Program. Because Carthon wanted to highlight positive role models for change in his community, he put out a call for stories written by children of fathers who are mentors and leaders. From the submissions, a winner was selected to receive tickets, sideline passes and parking passes to six Atlanta Falcons games.
To hear the story of the winner and watch a recap of the winners’ visit to the game, check out the video below
Carthon’s efforts could not be contained within the stadium. He also reached out to the principal of his daughter’s school, Harmony Elementary School, to launch an All-Pro Dads program. The principal welcomed him into the school as a way to get more fathers engaged in school activities and programming. When Carthon hosted a breakfast with food from a local restaurant, 75 dads showed up to talk about being involved in their families and communities.
Carthon’s story is just one of many around the country responding to the call from President Obama to strengthen the role of fathers in their families and communities. Share your story with us at info@fatherhood.gov.
For the last three years, The Fatherhood First Project in Rapid City, S.D. has been tasked with getting dads more involved in Head Start and Early Head Start programming. This has been accomplished by Fatherhood First Specialists:
- Working one-on-one with Head Start and Early Head Start dads facilitating one-on-one activities between the dads and their kids, helping them understand the value of play time with their kids.
- Hosting Father/Child activity nights where Father’s eat dinner with their kids and then everyone participates in a special activity designed to highlight dad’s strength of play.
- Conducting training for community based organizations on the important role that dads play in the development of their children raising awareness on the importance of fathers helping breakdown individual bias and preconceived opinions about fatherhood.
Through all these events, we are working in our community to redefine and, most importantly, celebrate fatherhood.
We have found that the vast majority of dads we work with want to be involved. They are excited to have special events for just them and their children. They want to understand more about what their child is learning while they are playing. They love becoming more involved.
The challenge we issue the dads in our program is the same challenge I issue all parents: Go play. Get on the floor. Sit at the table. Grab some blankets to build a fort. Grab a doll. Go outside. Go play. Playing offers so many opportunities for dads to talk to your kids about a variety of issues like morality, fairness and courage. In most cases, it is a no cost activity. Most importantly, playing is fun!
Now I know firsthand that this can be easier said than done. We work. We are tired. Sometimes it is hard to find the energy but we have to do it. Our time with our children is far too short and we need the make the most out of it.
Playing doesn’t scratch the surface of what fathers do but it is one of the things that we, as dads, do best.
Bob Burke is the Fatherhood Program Coordinator for Youth & Family Services in Rapid City, SD
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En respuesta al llamado del presidente Obama para una conversación nacional sobre la paternidad responsable y las familias saludables, aprender cómo usted puede unirse a la Iniciativa Presidencial de Padres y Mentores.