I have worked with many programs in my career as an educator. The All Pro Dads and iMOM Morning program is one of my favorite and one that has the potential to have the greatest impact on students, the school and community. One of the greatest needs for student success is parental involvement. QISD offers many opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’s education. Statistics provided by the All Pro Dads website show that when parents are actively involved in their child’s life, the child will perform better at school, have fewer discipline problems, be more involved in activities, and be twice as likely to graduate high school. The power of parental involvement is vital. The All Pro Dads and iMOM Morning program provides a chance for parents to have a moment one day a month to spend with their children to focus on just spending time as a family discussing a monthly topic. The topic for September was respect. My favorite time in the meeting each month is when parents introduce their child and themselves and tell why they are proud of their child that month. It is exciting to see the look on a child’s face when their parent is bragging on them in front of a group. We also give the children a chance to brag on their parents. I was moved in one of our meetings last year when a grandfather was in tears over what his grandson had to say about why he was proud of him. It is inspirational to hear what the students think of their parents. They look at them as real life heroes. We end the year with a family banquet in the spring. We have a free dinner, usually Mexican food, a guest speaker and door prize drawings. These programs make our community stronger because, not only does it help with parental involvement, it provides a network of parents that get to know each other. As their child moves through school they can praise them on the accomplishments they notice in activities. It can also provide a support system of parents to help keep our community free of outside forces that would seek to damage our children. We meet in the TMS library the 4th Thursday of the month at 7:15 a.m. I hope to see you there.
Michael Tull,
Director of PRIDE Academy and Student Leadership Programs