4th Annual River Eves 'Calling All Dads" Breakfast Grows Again this Year

The PTA hosted its Fourth Annual “Calling All Dads” breakfast on Friday, Aug. 24, which included over 80 fathers and male role models attending a special breakfast at school with their students.

The great response from dads marks the largest turn out for the annual breakfast, to date. 

Fathers attending the event learned about an ever-growing program of activities that center on involving fathers in the academic lives of their children - ranging from volunteer roles in the classroom, technology support, landscaping and special events to tutoring and reading to students.

“It is great to be at a school that values the participation of father so much,” said Tom Luby, a new River Eves parent. “There are many more ways I can get involved at River Eves than I realized.”

A 10-year research study by the National Center for Fathering and the PTA shows a continued growth in the participation of fathers at school. While the gains are positive, there are still many areas for improvement, as measured by the percentage of dads answering that they “never” engage in the following activities:

• Read to their child     39 percent

• Visit their child’s classroom   32 percent

• Volunteer at their child’s school   54 percent

• Have lunch with their child at school  74 percent

River Eves expects to see otherwise.  

“Our teachers and staff, PTA and Foundation continue to build outreach programs for all parents in a family,” said Neil Pinnock, principal. “We have seen that children of involved fathers are more likely to enjoy school, have better grades, have fewer behavior problems and become more responsible adults,” said Pinnock.  

“Although we continue to broaden and promote the number of ways that dads can participate at school, I am most pleased by the growth in the number of dads coming in to simply have lunch with their kids. Our Lunch with Dad program has really taken off over the last year,” said Preston Shirmeyer, River Eves dad and program co-chair for the "Calling All Dads" program. “I’m hoping we can continue that trend this year, too.”

The next big event for dads will be the Boosterthon Fun Run on Sept. 19. Dads will man the water tables and cheer on their students as they run laps to help their school.