White Plains Dads Take Their Children to School

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- After working his night shift at the United States Postal Service, Kevin Edwards heads to his White Plains home to make breakfast for his family. This Tuesday, however, Edwards took a detour and joined fathers across the nation in participating in "Dads, Take Your Child to School Day."

"My wife, she found out all the info this time and made sure I came," said Edwards, who said he'd heard about the annual event other years but never discovered enough details to attend. "It's definitely nice."

Edwards and his son Christian Melvin, a seventh grader, ate breakfast with dozens of other dads and students at Eastview Middle School Tuesday morning. The dads then sat in at Eastview's morning assembly, where Mayor Thomas Roach, Superintendent Christopher Clouet and White Plains Youth Bureau Executive Director Frank Williams, urged dads to stay involved with their children's academic progress.

Williams said little gestures, such as attending "Take Your Child to School Day," mean a great deal to young children.

"Today, we're taking time out to have fathers be more involved in their children's education," said Williams. "Because students do better and students' expectations are higher, we're encouraging fathers to be involved not just today, but every day."

Noel Carmona, 35, a Bronx resident, took an entire day off from work to escort his son Noah to his sixth grade classes. 

"He wanted me to come," said Carmona, who works for Pepsi. "I took the whole day off anticipating being here the whole day. It was short, but it was very nice to be with him in the morning."

 

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