Portal
Home
Calendar
Gallery
FAQ
Search
Register
Log inMen roll up their sleeves in parent-teacher groups
Men roll up their sleeves in parent-teacher groups
by Outspoken on Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:48 am
Men roll up their sleeves in parent-teacher groups
Educators say they provide important role models, so an increase in male participation can only be positive.
By BETH QUIMBY
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Men are making inroads into Maine's parent-teacher groups.
Once the almost exclusive province of women, PTAs and similar school fundraising and advocacy groups are seeing a surge in their male membership rolls.
More men are heading up ice cream socials, organizing Box Tops for Education drives and moving on to the executive boards of parent-teacher organizations across the state. Men are now the presidents or in the executive ranks of PTAs at schools in Albion, Bethel, Gardiner, Jay and South Portland.
"There has been a spike in fathers getting involved," said Ross Little, outgoing president of the PTA at Small Elementary School in South Portland. On a recent class field trip, four of the six parent volunteer chaperones were fathers.
The increased involvement by fathers in Maine, where 10 percent of the PTAs are now led by men, reflects a national trend. In 2003, the National Parent Teacher Association estimated its male membership at 3 percent. Today, the 112-year-old organization says 10 percent of its 5.5 million members are men.
But there is a lot of room for improvement, said Chuck Saylors, who is about to become the organization's first male president. The association last week launched a new effort to encourage more men to get involved.
Educators welcome the trend. Dawn Carrigan, principal of Longfellow School in Portland, said having men volunteer at elementary schools, which are often staffed almost exclusively by women, is important. She said children also benefit educationally by having male role models at school.
At a recent school fair, sponsored by the Longfellow Parent Teacher Organization, Carrigan was one of only two female volunteers at the food tables. All the rest were men.
"We have stay-at-home dads and corporate dads and everything in between," said Carrigan.
Little credits the rise in men's involvement in his PTA to a critical mass of stay-at-home fathers and fathers with flexible work schedules in his neighborhood.
Little threw himself into the PTA after leaving a career as a lawyer and chief of staff for a Canadian senator after his wife, also lawyer, landed a job in Maine. He said he quickly turned his volunteer work into a full-time job. He said there is a lot of satisfaction in heading up a group that raises $10,000 a year, organizes enrichment programs and school improvement projects.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=194145&ac=PHnws
Photos By Jill Brady/Staff Photographer
Educators say they provide important role models, so an increase in male participation can only be positive.
By BETH QUIMBY
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Men are making inroads into Maine's parent-teacher groups.
Once the almost exclusive province of women, PTAs and similar school fundraising and advocacy groups are seeing a surge in their male membership rolls.
More men are heading up ice cream socials, organizing Box Tops for Education drives and moving on to the executive boards of parent-teacher organizations across the state. Men are now the presidents or in the executive ranks of PTAs at schools in Albion, Bethel, Gardiner, Jay and South Portland.
"There has been a spike in fathers getting involved," said Ross Little, outgoing president of the PTA at Small Elementary School in South Portland. On a recent class field trip, four of the six parent volunteer chaperones were fathers.
The increased involvement by fathers in Maine, where 10 percent of the PTAs are now led by men, reflects a national trend. In 2003, the National Parent Teacher Association estimated its male membership at 3 percent. Today, the 112-year-old organization says 10 percent of its 5.5 million members are men.
But there is a lot of room for improvement, said Chuck Saylors, who is about to become the organization's first male president. The association last week launched a new effort to encourage more men to get involved.
Educators welcome the trend. Dawn Carrigan, principal of Longfellow School in Portland, said having men volunteer at elementary schools, which are often staffed almost exclusively by women, is important. She said children also benefit educationally by having male role models at school.
At a recent school fair, sponsored by the Longfellow Parent Teacher Organization, Carrigan was one of only two female volunteers at the food tables. All the rest were men.
"We have stay-at-home dads and corporate dads and everything in between," said Carrigan.
Little credits the rise in men's involvement in his PTA to a critical mass of stay-at-home fathers and fathers with flexible work schedules in his neighborhood.
Little threw himself into the PTA after leaving a career as a lawyer and chief of staff for a Canadian senator after his wife, also lawyer, landed a job in Maine. He said he quickly turned his volunteer work into a full-time job. He said there is a lot of satisfaction in heading up a group that raises $10,000 a year, organizes enrichment programs and school improvement projects.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=194145&ac=PHnws
Photos By Jill Brady/Staff Photographer
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
