One of the more enjoyable parts of elementary school is the volunteer programs we get to participate in. My personal favorite: Watch DOGS (Dads Of Great Students), a nationwide program that allows fathers to spend the day volunteering in their child's school in order to promote male role models and combat bullying.Jordan's day as a Watch DOG was last Thursday. It started bright and early with a spot on morning announcements. Then, as he was "patrolling the hallways", he was pulled into a first grade classroom to cover for a teacher. She essentially tossed a book his way and wished him luck. He did great: read aloud and then talked about the book for a while until the teacher came back.
His next stop was Avery's room, where he assisted with learning centers and then, at the children's request, lead them in the morning message. I walked in to see him leading this and was highly impressed: the children dictated sentences to him and then he helped them sound out the sentences as he wrote them on the board. Avery beamed from ear to ear the entire time he was in the class.
After all of the teaching, he was given a cart full of lunches and backpacks to deliver around the school. And then came no less than three hours of lunchroom duty. During lunch duty, he handed out Watch DOG stickers to great students, helped a child who lost a tooth, witnessed a child buy 8 rice krispie treats instead of a tray lunch (and get corrected), and sat with Avery during her lunch time.
One of my favorite moments in lunch went like this:
Little Boy: Can I please have a sticker?
Jordan: Well, I can only give them to students who are doing a really good job. So do a really good job at lunch and then maybe I can give you one.
(Five minutes later)
Little Boy: I did something really great. I helped someone.
Jordan: Who?
Little Boy: That kid. I helped him eat his cookie.
I say give the kid a sticker for creativity.
After lunch duty, Jordan headed to 5th grade to assist in another classroom and checked in books at the library.
At the end of the day, I expected him to come home frazzled and exhausted. However, the day was really fun for him and he says if he'll sign up for another Watch DOG day without question.
And, most importantly, Avery was incredibly proud of her Daddy and walked around the school like a star in her Watch DOG shirt. Avery's school has done this program up right and we are all so proud of our resident Watch DOG.
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