Rock Spring Elementary School Assistant Principal Jeffrey Daughtry is on a quest to get more fathers involved in their children’s’ education.

Following the suggestion from the school council, “Dads Rock!” began on Sept. 1 due to research that showed the involvement of a father or a positive male role model in the lives of children has profound effects on them.

Daughtry, who along with several male educators at the school, has a child attending Rock Spring and said they have about 34 active fathers involved in the program after the initial 72 who expressed interest during the open house at the beginning of the school year.

Participating fathers complete background checks before becoming part of the program.

“We found that there’s a very few number of men that are actively involved in their child’s education publicly at this level,” said Daughtry. “When you think of volunteers you think of stay-at-home moms. And we feel that men need to take an active role in the education of their children.”

The Dads Rock! volunteers fulfill many roles at the school. They assist with morning car/bus duty, lunchroom duty, help in the media center, hall and recess duty, open and close doors and afternoon car/bus dismissal.

Volunteer Dez Thornton, whose 10-year-old daughter, Destyne Walton attends the school, said beyond strengthening the relationship between Rock Spring and the community, the program gives dads a broader perspective of the inner-workings of the school and a much deeper appreciation for the teachers and administrators.

“Most notably, Dads Rock! debunks tradition in a sense that it challenges men to take an active volunteer role in cultivating the seeds of greatness in our youth,” said Thornton.

Daughtry agreed that the men were quite overwhelmed at first with what all the teachers and administrators go through on a daily basis at the school.

He would like for this program to become a mainstay at the school and there have been talks, he said, of a possible night out for the dads to brainstorm ideas for the program.

Coming up, the dads will volunteer at the school’s Rock Days festival in December, which is an event that is geared toward positive behavioral support.

“I believe that when you do what’s in the best interest of children, you’re not going to go wrong and if you do but your intentions are right then you can make the situation work,” said Daughtry about the program.