During the years of my elementary teaching career, I had extraordinary parent involvement in education in the form of room mothers. Despite good student teacher relationships, carrying out the projects in my classroom without my room mothers would have been difficult.
Accompanying children on field trips was not an easy task and parents' stories seemed to add another dimension to the trip. I was confident that every child would arrive safely to the destination and return to school. Parent teacher communication ensured that children learned quickly to respect and obey the parent in charge.
For several years, one dedicated mother returned to help us with our circus unit. During our study of clowns, she used her talent to put clown make-up on three children to illustrate the three types of clowns. She and other parents accompanied our classes to the circus.
Decorating our class Christmas tree the old fashioned way was a group project. Mothers helped children string cranberries and popcorn, and finished the day off with a popcorn treat.
I remember the year that several moms brought in sewing machines to help with a stitchery project. Positive self-esteem was reinforced as each child watched their piece beautifully finished by a mom.
In recent years, many of the stay-at-home moms returned to work. Roles changed. Getting room mothers was more difficult. Notes and calls came in saying, "I will help when I can." Fathers became more involved in classroom and school activities, and some of our projects changed. Now, as test scores need improving, parents are valuable reading and math tutors.
The staff that I worked with for 23 years was my teaching family. Room mothers and tutorial aides are a part of this family. Many of us keep in touch even though our children are grown and scattered.
Volunteering at school takes time and commitment, but everyone benefits. Working parents can share the responsibility just by being present at school activities. Children are nurtured and supported when they can depend on a parent being there.
Elizabeth Healey Schworer is a freelance writer.