There’s a pack of dogs running around Royal Palm Beach Elementary School, and they’re friendly, responsible, supportive, educated and are creating a positive impact on students.
They aren’t, however, friendly canines. They’re dads, grandfathers, uncles and any other male role model. They’re the Watch DOGS (dads of great students), a group of males participating in a program from the National Center for Fathering.
The Watch DOGS aim to make a change in schools, where typically females are the majority demographic volunteering.
RPBES Watch DOGS Omar Vega, Bill Thallemer and Jason Duffy came to the Monday, May 8 Royal Palm Beach Education Advisory Board meeting to share their experiences with the board, principals in attendance, District 6 School Board Member Marcia Andrews, Palm Beach County School District representatives and the community.
“What happens in the DOGS program is that dads become a resource that’s not funded; it doesn’t have to be funded,” Vega said.
The dads provide a cost-free resource to help in schools, whether it is directing traffic, putting books away in the media center or other odd tasks around the building.
“Palm Beach County is ranked 14th in single parents, with 37 percent single-parent homes,” Vega said. “So having other role models… having males there has really improved a lot of the morale. A lot of the kids there who don’t really have male role models in their lives have kind of connected with us and find us.”
The students excitedly tell the dads, “You’re my watch dog” — and the men become a presence in the schools.
The RPBES Watch DOGS are the only such group in Florida currently, Vega added. However, the program is something that could provide a continuum within the school system, helping principals, teachers and students.
Education Advisory Board Vice Chair Renatta Espinoza asked what sort of impact the men have had seen since the program began at the school on Nov. 4.
“It has made an amazing difference in the presence of more dads, stepdads, granddads. It doesn’t have to be a dad. It can be any male role model who will come and be a positive influence to the schoolchildren. It has been amazing,” Vega said.
Students are notorious for being difficult on substitute teachers, Thallemer said, but, it is easy for the Watch DOGS to come in and let the kids know that someone is watching them.
Thallemer explained that the setup and support is already in place for the program; it’s just a matter of having the support of administrators who want the program at their schools.
Board Member Klemie Christie asked the men why they got involved as a separate group, explaining that there are programs such as the PTO and PTA, and that mothers have been involved in schools for decades.
Vega explained that the program isn’t to take away from female involvement, and that the PTO and PTA are more fundraiser-based. The services they’re providing are based on education and security.
Board Member David Kendle pointed out that there have always been fathers in the schools. “We were there!” he said.
Principal Tracy Gaugler said she has seen a difference in how the school operates.
“Watching with the Watch DOGS this year and starting this program at our school, to me, there’s differences,” she said. “In the past, I’ve done call outs, fliers, asked for help… I get plenty of volunteers to come to the school, and I’d say probably 95 percent are moms.”
The approach to asking men to volunteer, she said, has changed. Now, they ask the dads to take one day off of work to spend time at the school. The kickoff party had more than 80 volunteers sign up.
The program, Gaugler said, is transferrable outside the elementary level. “We would love to meet with the schools in our feeder pattern and have this as part of our K-12 continuum,” she said. “They have made a huge difference academically.”
The Watch DOGS worked on a project where the students shared their stories and writing with the fathers through individual writing conferences. Normally, Gaugler said, the project would take almost a week to accomplish. It took just under two days.
“It was very powerful. It was very important. Their voice was heard, and they heard from men who are seen around our campus all the time how important it is to clearly communicate in writing and how important it is to cite your source,” Gaugler said. “This group is really special, and what they’ve brought to the school is something I’m really proud of.”
Thallemer became a member of the Watch DOGS because his daughter asked him to. As a consultant, he’s gone a lot, and he was thrilled with the chance to go in and participate.
Councilman Jeff Hmara said the program offers a male perspective.
“What’s attractive to me is individuals who step out into a structured, meaningful thing that I always thought about doing, but really didn’t have a great model to follow,” Hmara said.
Having the Watch DOGS as charismatic leaders, he said, sets an example for others, providing a role model for how to participate.
Christie asked the fathers why they became involved.
Vega said he was tired of seeing bad news regarding schools.
“The only way to make a difference is for me to change,” he said. “I’m here to help the teacher. I’m here to help the student.”
Providing a male role model to a child without one, rather than the role model being a sports icon without a vested interest in the child, is important to Vega.
“There’s no greater influence in a child’s life than their parents,” he said.
Duffy said he was a sideline dad, but when he went to the kickoff and saw Vega’s passion for the project, he was one of the men who signed up to participate. Now, his wife schedules the Watch DOGS.
“My kids love it when I’m the watch dog,” he said. “I’ll tell them the night before, and they wake up excited.”
To the kids, Gaugler said, the Watch DOGS are like celebrities. “As the kids started to enjoy this and appreciate this, they wanted their dad to do it,” she said.
Fliers have gone home, and the kids have served as motivators for getting their fathers involved.
“The kids, a lot of times, have become the drivers for getting the dads involved,” Duffy said. “You make this structured program, you get it out there, you let the dads know that it’s there, you do it a couple of times and, really, the kids do the rest.”
And that, Christie said, is how to get the program started at other schools.
ABOVE: Royal Palm Beach Elementary School Principal Tracy Gaugler with Watch DOGS Omar Vega, Bill Thallemer and Jason Duffy.
