GreatSchools, a national independent education nonprofit, and Harris Interactive, recently released "The Economy's Impact on Back to School" report. Harris Interactive interviewed 1,086 Adults ages 18 and over, who are parents of children 5-17 who are currently in a public or private school. Amongst other findings they discovered that nearly two in three parents (64%) believe that, because of the recession, it is more important for them to volunteer in the classroom than before.
A majority of parents (53%) plan to volunteer at their child's school this year versus 44% last year - an increase of 20%. The trend was most pronounced among African American parents, 60% of whom plan to volunteer (up from 23% who say they volunteered last year).
Despite their strong interest in volunteering, however, many parents feel like they are an untapped resource. According to the report, nearly half of parents (49%) list the lack of opportunities offered by teacher or schools among the main challenges they face to being more involved in ensuring their child receive a quality education.
In other words, a majority of parents agree that it's more important to volunteer at school, but many of them don't know how best to help. This is where the dogs come in . . .
Watch D.O.G.S.® that is. Watch D.O.G.S. ® (Dads Of Great Students) are fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers, uncles, and other father figures who volunteer to serve at least one day each year in a variety of school activities as assigned by the school principal or other administrator.
The program one of the many great initiatives of the National Center for Fathering.
School administrators and dads both agree Watch D.O.G.S.® is a win-win.
- 79% of principals surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that "The Watch D.O.G.S.® program has made a significant contribution to the safety of our school."
- 96% of dads who completed our End-of-Day Survey strongly agreed or agreed that their "experience as a WatchDOGS volunteer was rewarding" and they would "want to do something like this again."
So what does a WatchDOG do? Activities very from school to school, but many read and work on flash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch (multiple times!) with students, watch the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow, mentor students, and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well.
he program has been recognized by the United States Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ABC's World News Tonight featured the program on one of their
"Spirit of America" segments.
So dad, if you would like to volunteer in your child's school but not quite sure what or how, I encourage you to read up on Watch D.O.G.S.® with a couple of other dads and approach the administrators of the school with this great way to contribute your time and talents. For more on the importance of dads and schools working together follow this
link to John Badalment's Modern Dads Blog and a video clip of the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan talking about dads in schools.
Is anyone reading this part of a Watch D.O.G.S.® program? If yes, use the comment section below and tell us about your experience.
P.S. I heard of another great father-child school activity the other day. Get someone to donate a bunch of appliance boxes and gain permission to watch the movie Cars in the school gym. Prior to the movie father-child pairs build their own cardboard cars to pull into the "Drive In" to watch the show. Pop some popcorn and you have great evening of fun. You may want to bring a couple of large pillows though!
Originally posted at www.coloradodads.com