015 All in the Family (1)
One unforgettable scene for me was when, many years back, the principal of one of the public elementary schools we’ve adopted proudly told me that the parents of her school was very actively involved in school activities. She happily explained that they’ve been helping with school cleaning and maintenance, not just during the pre-school opening Brigada Eskwela week, but throughout the year.
I was of course happily impressed by all this, in part because we needed a lot of volunteers for the school event we were planning to put up in their school, and in part because it would confirm my theory that Brigada Eskwela can be done year round (as was part of my proposal for what we called Brigada Eskwela Plus).
I was also happy that the principal okayed my request to meet the parents so I can explain what we planned to do in their school—for their children—and so I can get them to volunteer for this event.
To my surprise, however, I ended up meeting with around 20 people, the 10 or so couples who are officers (and their spouses) of the school’s PTA.
While I did get the volunteers I needed, and they were indeed very eager to help, I was expecting more people. To begin with, there were over a thousand kids in that school—that meant at least a thousand single parents, right?
This, therefore, made me realize how much this school—and perhaps many others—can improve insofar as getting parents, as well as the other members of the family, more involved in school affairs.
We have to learn from the best practices, both here and abroad.
In Canada, for instance, parents are actually required to do some volunteer work in their kids’ school, whether public or private (My brother used his writing skills to update the school’s safety manual; he used his car to bring students to a quick field trip to a nearby museum; and he spent several hours a week assisting in the school’s library).
Even here, some schools actually encourage parents and other family members to participate in school programs (I directed a talent show and got dragged into singing for a Christmas pageant in my nephews’ school in Baguio).
Of course, I am not suggesting we require parents in public schools here to “volunteer” (the term itself doesn’t require anything). But imagine the potential of having more parents involved. Instead of the 10 couples, 100. Or a thousand.
(To be continued)