How Dads make a difference at Hartman Elementary

(ROCKWALL, TX – June 4, 2015) If you stroll the halls of Hartman Elementary on a Friday, you just might encounter a surprising guest among the students. He’s a little bit taller than most of the school’s occupants, but his enthusiasm for learning matches his stature. Who is this stranger you’ve spotted? An Eagle Eye Dad.

Hartman began its Eagle Eyes Dads program several years ago in an effort to increase students’ interaction with adult male role models. Each Friday a father is selected and invited up to the school to volunteer.

“We see a lot of moms participate in PTA, but we wanted to give dads a chance to be involved—especially for kids who don’t have a male role model at home,” Melissa Shaw, Hartman’s Counselor said.

The program began as a segment of the national Watch D.O.G.S. organization sponsored by theNationalCenterfor Fathering, but Hartman fathers and faculty decided to branch out and take ownership of the program. The new name was inspired by Hartman’s eagle mascot.

“Last year we decided to break away from the national program, make our own t-shirts, and make it a little more personal,” Shaw said. “One of the dads came up with the acronym Eagle E.Y.E.S., which stands for Encouraging Your Exceptional Students.”

Upon their arrival at the school, fathers are handed an agenda for the day. They star on the school’s morning announcements, a television broadcast by the 6th graders called ENN (Eagle News Network). The dads introduce their own kids and then provide a fact about where they went to college or what they do for a living.

“We want college and careers to be something the kids think about all the time,” Shaw said.

The fathers then proceed to their own child’s homeroom, and then help out around the school wherever needed.

Shaw said the fathers help with reading and math one-on-one or in small groups, assist with computer skills, watch the cafeteria, read to groups of kids in the library, and play games in P.E.

Mike Townsend serves as the Logistics Director of the Eagle Eyes program, and is frequently present on Hartman’s campus to volunteer. Townsend said he believes the program is important because it affects the overall development of many children.

“We want the kids to feel that dads are involved in their lives,” Townsend said. “We want them to know we see education as important and them as important. It will help the community overall and it will help the kids.”

Townsend said the responsibilities of the Eagle Eye Dads are pretty simple, and the benefits are immeasurable.

“We don’t have to be engineers or rocket scientists,” Townsend said. “We just go around assisting the teachers, whatever that may mean. We always get to go to P.E.—dads are apparently big hits.”

Townsend stressed the importance of what he calls the “strong dads concept” in the lives of kids who seek male role models.

“I think in our community, in our city, in our world, we see poll after poll showing the importance of strong dads,” Townsend said. “Even for kids who don’t have that at home, seeing that played out is setting the ground work for what dads are supposed to do. Even kids who don’t have that get a glimpse of it, and if they don’t have an ideal family life someone is helping with filling that role. It benefits them down the road later in life.”

Shaw said an additional benefit to the program is an extra measure of security for the students.

“That extra male presence is nice at an elementary school,” Shaw said.

Townsend said that as he tries to better the lives of the students, his favorite part of the experience is to interact with them and uplift them.

“It’s special to see their excitement about school and the opportunity to interact with a father figure,” Townsend said. “It think it’s cool.”

Shaw said Hartman plans to continue to expand the program next school year because of the positive results it continues to yield.

“One of our goals for next year is that every teacher has a slot,” Shaw said. “The more kids they spend time with, the better.”

Story and photos by Julie Anne White, Blue Ribbon News reporter. 

To share your good news and events, email .

Please click here to LIKE our Facebook page, so we can reach more people with good news like this!