I was asked to briefly describe why a man, such as myself is active in PTSA and how do we attract more men to join.
There are more than 5.5 million members in the PTA. Roughly 10% are men.
Personally, I’m good with these numbers but I’m here to advocate for more involvement by men.
“Oh the irony”
When our daughter was born, my wife and I decided that a stay at home parent would be worth the sacrifices it may entail. Grade and behavior statistics will bear out the value of increased parent presence. Since my wife is smarter and made more money, we decided I would be the one to stay home. I had older brothers and sisters and a saint of a mother that all taught me how to run a household adequately.
As a stay at home dad I participated in every single event from preschool to 5th grade. I was a reading docent at Maple Hills, taught math, science and writing in the science/tech program at Briarwood for two years, member of the yearbook staff, produced a student movie for 5th grade graduation, never missed volunteering for a science fair, field day, field trip in six years and was runner-up volunteer of the year two years in a row.
That classroom involvement, seeing kids learning, teachers working, staff support and participation, these things made me proud and got me excited about supporting the school more and more. Seeing the process, I can assure you the public school system works. But it only works with parent involvement. PTSA has given me a bigger picture of how as a group we can represent, advocate and bring together all the elements that make our school system successful. It is imperative we have this model to coordinate everything.
Then came middle school and parent participation in the classroom became less of a choice. One day Stephanie Quinn called and asked me to be her PTSA co-president at Maywood. New and exciting opportunity, I said yes immediately. Plus I knew Stephanie and with her running the show I knew we couldn’t fail.
So why don’t men join PTSA? “No one asked” “It’s a women’s group” is what they will tell you. I remember my first PTSA meeting and the first words I heard when I walked in, “SECURITY” “What’s a guy doing in here?”
Although I have had discrimination in the past it is nearly non-existent anymore. “No one asked them”, well let’s ask them. Make a point in your local unit newsletter to invite men. If you want more men involved, you need one in front of the room. Find one guy to get interested and you will get more.
The PTSA should be as diverse as the members it represents and advocates for. Getting connected with teachers, staff, students and other parents is only benefitted when a wider section of the school population is represented. With more men comes a broader network of shared resources.
A real popular slogan for PTA is “This is not your mother’s PTA”. Maybe I should make an amendment to that and say,
“This is not your mother’s PTA”
“It’s your father’s PTA also”
