Dads go back to school

WELLSVILLE — It’s been awhile since Kurt Taylor has been in elementary school.

But it hasn’t been very long since Taylor, who lives in Wellsville, has roamed the halls of one.

Taylor, and more than 50 other fathers and father figures, walk the halls of Wellsville Elementary, 218 Ash St., as part of the school’s new Watch D.O.G.S. program.

“It gets dads involved with the school,” Taylor said of the program, which stands for Dads of Great Students. “And it’s good for the kids to have their dads at school. They really think it’s important.”

The program, which was founded nationally in 1998 by a father in response to a middle-school shooting in Arkansas, officially started at Wellsville Elementary Aug. 26.

“The program is designed to get fathers or uncles, or grandfathers, or other parent figures, to volunteer one day a year to be in their child’s school,” Wellsville Superintendent Denise O’Dea said previously.

Every day of the week, a relative of one of the students enrolled within the district will visit the school and provide an “extra set of eyes and ears,” O’Dea said.

“We ask them to donate one day a year,” Randy Renoud, Wellsville Elementary School principal, said. “We have some that are coming in as often as once a month.”

Renoud got the program — which has cost the district a little less than $1,000 — started at the elementary school after seeing a presentation at a state conference seeing a presentation at a state conference. Renoud said he quickly realized that his school, which has 60 staff members with only three who are male, needed more male role models.

“If I can bring another male figure in, that’s a good thing,” he said. “Dads can do things that they see moms doing like serving lunch.”

Initially, Renoud said he helped lead an informational meeting to talk to potential fathers about the program. More than 60 fathers showed up for the meeting, he said.

“Students and staff have been really receptive,” Renoud said. “They don’t see them as a disruption or intrusion. They see it as someone who can help them.”

Renoud said he’s seen fathers making copies for teachers, answering phone calls, serving lunch and even tying shoelaces.

“They do anything we ask them to do,” he said. “Other than just walking the hallway, they go to recess and play with kids...”

When Donny Mosher volunteers once a month, he said it provides students with a role model — especially those students who may not have a father in their life.

“I’m usually in the class helping the teacher with stuff she might need,” Mosher said. “The teachers are busy and if they need some assistance, there’s a dad there.”

Renoud said fathers like Mosher and Taylor really have stepped up and volunteered multiple times a year.

“The only thing that makes it work is the volunteers,” Renoud said.

Taylor said he hopes the program not only continues, but that it grows until every father spends time with his son or daughter at school once a year.

Not only does it help ensure safety at the school, but it’s given Taylor a chance to see his fourth grade daughter, Lauren.

“She wants me to come more often,” he said. “She just loves to have me there.”