Pleasant Plains Elementary School is looking for a few good men — fathers, uncles, grandfathers, father figures who can volunteer to spend a day at school.
To get the program underway for the 2015-2016 academic year, the school is launching WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) with an evening of dinner and activities for the school's fathers and their children. It will be held at the school Thursday, May 21 at 6 p.m.
"We felt it would be a good opportunity to get the dads together and explain the program," said Tracy Barr, Pleasant Plains' parent liaison and coordinator of the program's all-father committee. She said some 200 have said they will attend.
"It's all about the men and the kids," she said. "We want to build a camaraderie among the dads."
The goal is to bring good male role models into the school for a full day of service. Some fathers do volunteer at Pleasant Plains and a handful of the teachers are male. "The schoolhouse is so female dominated," Barr said.
"It's so different when dads are there. Kids respond differently to male figures. I think it's going to make a real impact," Barr said.
Levi Planter, the father of a fourth- and second-grader, agreed. "I noticed children responded differently to a male presence," he said. When he volunteers in his children's classrooms, he found himself mentoring other children.
"You see a lot of mothers, not too many dads," said Planter, who serves on the WATCH D.O.G.S. committee.
He said he was unable to volunteer at the school when he worked the night shift but once his schedule changed, he started coming to Pleasant Plains regularly. "I'm at the school pretty much every day," he said, adding he's looking forward to seeing more dads at school.
"I think it's going to be awesome," he said. "I hope it's a catalyst not only at our school but for other places."
The committee decided to launch the program before the end of this school year so everything can be put in place in time for the next school year, according to Barr. Fathers will be contacted over the summer and in the fall, a Dads and Doughnuts Day will reintroduce the program.
Assistant Principal Lauren Tillman first learned of the nationwide program at her daughter's school in Howard County."I started asking questions about it right away," Tillman said. "What more equitable program could we have in our school than this?"
She went through the program's materials and got permission from Principal Maureen Partilla to organize a group at Pleasant Plains.
Funding for the start-up kit, which costs $400, came from Title I funds. "Title I was so supportive of us," Tillman said.
The WATCH D.O.G.S. program has a specific schedule. Dads and other father figures get a T-shirt when they check in. The visiting father, accompanied by his child, is introduced during daily announcements. The fathers walk the perimeter of the school inside and out to be sure doors are locked and everything looks safe. They spend an hour in their child's classroom before moving on to volunteer for an hour in other classrooms throughout the day. Lunchtime is spent with their child.
The WATCH D.O.G.S. program is offered at schools around the country. In Maryland, it is offered at 39 schools. Pleasant Plains will be the first in Baltimore County, Barr and Tillman said.
Throughout the day, fathers are interacting with children: reading books, going over math facts, working on a school project. No secretarial work, according to Tillman. "We want to have them interact with the kids," she said.
Tillman added that they hope to have about four fathers visit every month. "If we can get one a week, we'll be really happy," she said.
"We're asking dads to spend one day," Barr said. "Hopefully they'll spend more."