FATHERS’ DAY
Annual program encourages dads to take active role in children’s education
TROY, N. Y. » The Troy City School District invited fathers and other male role models to all five of its elementary schools on Tuesday as part of National Dads Take Your Child to School Day.
The annual event promotes paternal involvement in a child’s education by encouraging fathers and significant male caregivers to bring their children to school, walk themto their classrooms and enjoy a breakfast reception.
The first National Dads Take Your Child to School Day was first hosted in Chicago in 2004 to follow up on the Black Star Project’s first Million Father March, which began in Chicago and is now held annually across the country. National Dads Take Your Child to SchoolDay first came to New York state as an initiative of the state Office of Children and Family Services, with the initial event hosted in 2007 at a Brooklyn elementary school.
Today, more than 800 such events are hosted across the state, with the goal of informing fathers about services available for them and their families, including financial literacy and asset building, job development and educational advancement, improving literacy, health and wellness, school safety and volunteer opportunities and support for new Americans.
“Youth of today need positive role models in their lives to help them successfully navigate their transition into adolescence and young adulthood,” said Gladys Carrión, commissioner of the state Office of Children and Family Services, on the website for the campaign, www.dadstakeyourchildtoschoolday. com” Youth of today need positive role models in their lives to help them successfully navigate their transition into adolescence and young adulthood.”