Watchdog dads patrol campus at Manzanita
Plenty of mothers help the school, but PTA wanted students to see fathers get involved
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Last May at the Parent-Teacher Association state convention, PTA delegates from Manzanita Elementary were on a mission to find a program that would help bring fathers to the campus.

Lilly Dollenmayer, PTA president at Manzanita Elementary, said the group hit pay dirt when they found Watch DOGS (it stands for Dads Of Great Students) of America.

"We wanted to find something father-oriented because Hispanic families are largely patriarchal," Dollenmayer said. "Children look up to them as male leaders. And non-Spanish fathers appreciate it too. They understand what their child does all day at school."

The program calls for male volunteers to work at the school all day, beginning with welcoming families onto campus, securing gates, working in the classroom and playing at recess and lunchtime.

"They love it, especially introducing the children to new games or different rules they had when they were younger," Dollenmayer said. "No matter how unfit or old they are, they are still always the best player out there. The kids are like, 'Wow, you're so good.'"

Watch DOGS began after a 1998 middle-school shooting in Arkansas, when one father decided to get more involved in his son's school. He urged the principal at George Elementary in Springdale, Ark. to encourage fathers to help make a safer, stronger school setting. Today, the nonprofit program with a goal "to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers" has been instituted at elementary and middle schools across the country.

"Although we don't have a problem with violence at Manzanita, we love (the program)," Dollenmayer said. "We wanted not just their mothers in the classrooms. It's important for them to see what men do in society."

Manzanita held its Watch DOGS recruiting pizza party Sept. 28. Members of more than one-third of Manzanita's 300 households showed up. More than 175 fathers have responded with interest, and 50 have signed up to volunteer.

"An engineer may build things in the classroom, and a musician once tried to teach the kids to keep a beat. A lot of our fathers are gardeners, so when it's raining, they'll just show up to help, or if a father had to go to a conference and it fell through. They just stop by because they know they are welcome. We just love our watchdogs."

Michael Brooks is the "top dog" for the Manzanita Watch DOGS program.

"It was excellent," Brooks said. "I just thought it was a great concept, an absolutely amazing idea. Saying you love your kids is one thing, but actually showing up to their classrooms, it really goes a long way. They feel proud of themselves and show you off to their friends."

Brooks said he really enjoyed spending time with his first-grader, Carson, and third-grader, Bailey, in the classroom and on the playground.

"They taught me how to play fourscore, and they just had fun," Brooks said. "You eat lunch with them and sit at these little tables and look around at all these little kids. It's really fun.

"The second I was done with Carson, he asked, 'When are you going to come back?'"

And as soon as he walked off campus, Brooks found himself wondering the same thing. He's been scouring his calendar to find a couple days where he can get away.

"For parents who want their kids to do well in school, get to know teachers, see what they're doing, it's an incredible program," Brooks said. "You see in just one day how it could help out, and how when they announce their names on the speaker and that their dad is a Watch DOG that day, they are so proud."

Dollenmayer said the next goal is to spread the program throughout the district.

For more information, call (888) 540-DOGS (3647) or visit www.watchdogs.net.