On weekdays at noontime, Bob Worthy can often be found scraping fruit roll-up wrappers off a classroom floor, fastening an anxious playground-bound kindergartner`s jacket, or rescuing a kicked soccer ball headed for the creek by the playground at St. Thomas of Villanova School in Palatine.
This father of a 3rd grader has also pitched in for kitchen duty, whipping up and then serving chicken salad sandwiches to the old folks who visit the youngsters at the school`s annual Grandparent`s Day. He`s donned a Ninja Turtle costume for the school`s big annual track-a-thon fundraiser, tallying up laps and cheering the kids on during the event. And he`s organized and orchestrated Halloween parties. In costume, of course.
School-sponsored roller skating nights and taffy apple sales-he wouldn`t miss `em. After school, Bob`s blue mini-van often is lined up in the sea of moms to pick up his son. Then it`s off to Cub Scout duty, where he`s the den assistant.
Call him a lunch ”dad,” room ”parent,” or den ”father,” if you will, but Worthy is among the fast-growing ranks of fathers who are redefining the school-related volunteer roles traditionally filled by mothers.
Most of the dads, including Worthy, have been dubbed ”Mr. Moms.” They love it. Their presence is a definite boon to an education system that, faced by increased funding cutbacks, is finding parental involvement crucial. Education officials say these hands-on dads are the best thing to show up in the classroom in the last decade.
”In the last five to 10 years, we`ve seen more and more dads become partners in their children`s education,” says Kathryn Whitfill, first vice president of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization made up of about seven million parent and teacher members nationwide. ”These conscientious dads are serving on parent-teacher boards. They`re pitching in on school beautification projects and reading books in the classroom-any kind of volunteer work they can do to help.”
One impetus pushing male parents into the classroom is the explosive growth of two-career families, Whitfill and other education experts agree. Another is the rise in single-parent households, many headed up by fathers who feel obligated to fufill roles traditionally held by the female parent in the home, adds Whitfill.
”It was always primarily women doing the school volunteering,” explains Whitfill. ”But, now that (the moms are) at the office all day, the men have got to kick in, too.”
Indeed, many fathers are no longer content with their former roles as chief report card monitor. They`re eager to get a closer glimpse at the day-to-day process of their offspring`s education and feel strongly about sharing the school-related volunteer duties.
That`s exactly the case for Worthy, whose wife, Nancy, is employed full time as the emergency medical services coordinator for Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. In addition, his position as a firefighter/paramedic for the Palatine Fire Department (24 hours on, 48 hours off duty) allows him the flexibility to be available for day-time dad duty.
”We`re no longer a society where the dad is the provider and it`s the mom`s job to take care of the kids,” says Worthy. ”My wife works, so when they send home the volunteer forms, we split our obligations right down the middle. In the past, most guys like me would probably get a second job on their free days. But more and more dads seem to be choosing to forfeit the extra money to spend more time with their kids.”
John Near, an Elgin Community College psychology instructor who specializes in family psychology and education, believes the changing economic-mandated structure of the family-an increasing number of women who are forced to return to the workplace, along with the growing number of out-of-work executives-plays a role in the increased presence of fathers in the schools.
”Fathers, whether it`s because they are out of work or their wives are going back to school or working, are taking much more active roles in their households,” says Near. ”And part of those household duties have always been the kids at school.”
Whether they`re researching prospective preschools, volunteering in the classrooms, chaperoning field trips or taking time after their work day to help fight budget cuts, these fathers are intensifying their commitment to support their children`s learning and taking an active role in their children`s education process. Their presence can be felt at all levels-from preschool through high school-education experts agree.
”Dads have always been very active in athletic activities, but they`ve become increasingly instrumental in other organizations such as our orchestra and band and the parent-support groups,” notes James Whittington, associate principal for Wheeling High School and a father of three. ”There`s also a lot of dads getting involved in the day-to-day activities here. We`re seeing a lot more men come in to the discipline hearings and the other counseling sessions with their children.”
Charles Asche, executive director for the Creative Children`s Academy in Mt. Prospect and 15-year veteran in the education field, also believes the changing family structure is behind the growing number of dads volunteering their time in the classroom. His school recently changed the wording on their volunteer form from ”Room Mom,” to ”Room Parent,” and he`s seen an influx of dads volunteering there.
”The fathers are real positive male role models in the schools and that is certainly something this female-dominated industry needs,” says Asche.
While there is no question fathers are stepping up their school involvement, educational centers in turn are also doing what they can to accommodate parental schedules in an effort to encourage that support, according to Elgin Community College`s Near. He points to the move in recent years to extend parent-teacher conferences into evening hours as ”a prime example of schools trying to make it easier for dads to be involved.”
And grandfathers. More than a few grandfathers have added their names to the roster of school volunteers. Says Henry Tomczyk, a retired engineer and grandfather of two who volunteers as a math aide at Barrington High School,
”I`ve always been interested in math and when the opportunity came to volunteer some time at my grandson`s school, I was very eager to do so. I really enjoy working with the kids, especially the ones who are eager to learn.”
In addition to school administrators, there`s another group of adults welcoming this increased father participation-the moms.
”We just had an ice-cream social and I purposely recruited all dads to do the scooping,” says Laura Megleo, first vice president in charge of programs at Pleasant Hills School in Palatine and a mother of six. Her efforts wooed 18 fathers to man the ice-cream scoops. ”They were the best volunteers we`ve ever had, so willing to do anything we asked. They cleaned up, they lugged the ice cream. They were super enthusiastic.
”I think we moms have been doing all this for so long, that we kind of just do what we`re told to do. It`s more of a novelty to the men and they seem really eager to always go the extra step. I`ll take them for volunteers any day,” adds Megleo.
And how do the youngsters feel? ”I love it when my dad does lunch duty, because he gives me money to buy ice cream,” says 8-year old Russell Worthy, of the days the schools sells ice cream.
”He comes on my field trips and even dressed as a giant puppy dog and a Ninja Turtle to cheer me on at the track-a-thon,” Russell says, adding, ”My friends think it`s pretty neat, too, that he`s always coming to help at school. I always hear them yelling, `Hi, Mr. Worthy`.”
