By Amanda Moses
On September 21st, father figures across New York State participated in the Annual Dads Take Your Child to School Day, a campaign, which was created in 2007, that seeks to engage the men in school children’s lives through positive reinforcement and activities.
At the local schools in Spring Creek Towers, fathers and father figures in the community made sure to start their day encouraging and empowering their children last month with a delicious breakfast and mixer. Each school offered participants an opportunity to discuss their child’s education with staff, share ideas on what interactive programing they would like to see in the school and more.
Abe Stark Primary School (PS) 346’s cafeteria was bustling with life as dozens upon dozens of fathers sipped on their coffee and their children snacked on bagels. Principal Jabari Edwards profoundly thanked the men in attendance, especially when he understands that they may have had other obligations, but still took the time to spend the morning with their children.
As a father of four, Edwards knows the importance of having a male figure present in a child’s life.
“I understand what it means to have a male figure involved, you may not necessarily live in the home, but they’re involved. So I want to take this moment and extend my gratitude to you all. I am standing here as the principal of the school, but I want to say here I’m in admiration of you all for making sure that you prioritize this morning to show your son, your daughter, your niece, or whatever their relation, to show them how important they are to you,” Edwards said.
Edwards looked around the cafeteria and asked fathers to share what activities, programs or suggestions they have to increase fatherly involvement or help improve the school in general. Some gentleman shared that they would like to have more involved career days, sports programs where fathers can help coach, and even tutoring sessions helping fathers to understand their children’s homework.
“There is this nasty myth nationwide that fathers of color, African American, Hispanic, whatever your ethnicity, there’s a myth that we are not involved. I challenge them to come to PS 346 and visit and observe instances like this and this proves otherwise. We are involved. We care about our children,” Edwards added.
Across the hall from PS 346’s mixer, Frederick Douglass Academy VIII’s staff provided fathers and father figures with a light lunch and transformed their celebration into a picture day with dads. Using their traditional burgundy colors and school template as a background image, fathers posed with their children. Some even trying their best to make their child laugh, creating an everlasting memory on camera.
At Gateway Intermediate School 364, the staff invited male figures, stepfathers, grandfather, uncles, and brothers to a morning filled with light refreshments and discussions from 7:30am to 8:30am.
Elementary and middle schools were not the only participants in this event. The toddlers at Starrett Early Learning Center (SELC) also enjoyed a morning with their fathers, brothers, and male figures playing games together and meeting other parents.
Photos by Amanda Moses and courtesy of SELC and IS 364
