THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412080169
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES FRASCA, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
A crowd of nearly 70 Fairfield Elementary School fathers attended the ``Breakfast for Dads and Kids'' held recently in the school cafeteria.
What's wrong with this picture?
Up until a year ago, parental involvement at Fairfield Elementary School had threatened to become a very exclusive club: for ladies only.
Teachers and parents wondered aloud, ``Where were the fathers?'' Most were notably absent from regular school functions. Requests for volunteers and chaperones were met with a resounding silence from the dads. Fathers stayed away from PTA meetings in droves.
In a move to remedy the situation, Fairfield's Faculty Council formed the Dad's Action Team, a group bent on luring dads-at-large to the ominous confines of hallowed hallways.
And judging from the turnout at the pancake breakfast held Nov. 28, Fairfield Elementary School fathers are now earning A's for involvement.
Nervous fathers were escorted to the event by their far more experienced offspring. Students savvy to the protocol of cafeteria procedure handed lunch trays to their fathers and directed them patiently to the coffee urn.
A first-grader was overheard telling her dad, ``Now you know how I felt on my first day of school.''
Andrew Parr, father of first-grader Christopher Parr, seemed less nervous than most. He has attended several DAT-sponsored events and described the team's efforts to make fathers feel more comfortable in the school as ``a great deal.''
Christopher Parr, 6, smiled broadly at his dad through a mouthful of food and nodded his agreement.
``The program has been well received,'' said DAT chairperson Eric Helke. ``We get a lot of positive comments. Conferences and PTA meetings were previously dominated by the moms.''
Monthly events for fathers and students have included a Tides baseball game, career day and Friday night movies.
``The kickball game held prior to a PTA meeting was by far the most popular event,'' Helke said, ``because dads are so competitive.'' Future events include an Old Dominion University basketball game, an outdoors movie night and a helicopter demonstration. Scheduled times vary to accommodate the fathers' different working schedules.
While the program is open to all dads, grandfathers, older brothers and adult male friends, Helke explained that ``We haven't excluded mothers. A lot of military dads may be out at sea, and we're sensitive to that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by James Frasca
Andrew Parr, father of first-grader Christopher Parr, seemed less
nervous than most. He has attended several events and described the
Dad's Action Team's efforts to make fathers feel more comfortable in
the school as ``a great deal.'' Christopher, 6, smiled broadly at
his dad through a mouthful of food and nodded his agreement.
by CNB