Lions travel in dens, geese in flocks, cows in herds, and so on, but according to numerous websites, the tiger travels alone — unless one is a Newton Municipal School District Tiger.
Through a new program initiated by Newton Municipal School District and run by district social worker and parent liaison Monique Agee, Newton Tigers won’t be alone as they negotiate their school days. The Tiger Moms and Dads program is designed to bring community members into the schools to provide positive role models with encouraging words to students.
“A community member came and brought the idea to the district and then I was asked to actually spearhead the program,” Agee said. “Newton County uses the program called Watchdogs, and when we met the first time we looked at the curriculum and discussed how that program would play a role in our school district. But, we decided to create our own program that would fit our own students. We came up with Tiger Dads.”
The goal of the program is to bring positive role models onto the campuses who, through their presence, can demonstrate that education is important, Agee said. This group began meeting in the spring and continued with summer session both on campus and through Zoom meetings. Those meetings launched the idea of Tiger Moms.
While Tiger Moms is still in the planning and development stages, the roles of adult participants will be the same, but they will have a different set of activities planned.
The first event which is both a kickoff for the program and membership drive will take place during the second week of September. While a particular day has not been set, the event is themed around an idea of bring dads or male role models to a special event. Elementary males will be invited to bring an adult male role model with them. The adult could be a father, father figure, grandfather, uncle, adult brother, or adult cousin to the event. In addition to providing a special time for the students and male mentors, Agee said the event will encourage recruitment of other adults to participate in the program. She also added that all volunteers for the program would need to complete a screening process and background check as required by the district and state for volunteers.
“This is about finding those people who can be a positive influence,” Agee said. “Some of the things we hope to implement is the dads being present when the students arrive at school, opening doors for them, encouraging them to have a good day, just kind of looking out and maybe if someone comes to school and doesn’t seem happy that morning giving them positive affirmation. Pretty much just being a positive presence. We’ve come across kids that don’t have a positive influence and home and need someone to reach out to them.”
“It is important that we build a partnership so that our students can be successful because we need the school, the parents, and the community to build the success of our students. It takes all of us,” Agee said.
Anyone interested in volunteering for the program or seeking more information should contact Agee through the district’s central office.
