FLOSSMOOR, IL — Clinton Alexander has always considered Homewood-Flossmoor High School to be a community environment. But, when he started as the school’s principal last year, he envisioned ways to bring more community within the building’s four walls.
What has emerged from Alexander’s school of thought was an army of orange-shirted volunteers known among the school’s student body as the Dad Squad. Since the program that places male role models in Homewood-Flossmoor High School’s hallways and classrooms began a year ago, the initiative has created a sense of positive energy —not only for students but for the mighty band of men itself.
On designed days a couple of times each school year, members of the Dad Squad are positioned strategically around the school as a way of engaging with students. Whether they are offering a fist-bump, a word of encouragement, a thought-provoking trivia question, and yes, God forbid, a Dad Joke, the volunteers have created a new level of engagement perhaps in bigger ways than Alexander ever thought they would when he introduced the program last year.
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The first Dad Squad Day took place in March before another one took in early November. Another event is planned for next spring, organizers said. This year, nearly 90 volunteers signed up for the event and the squad was split into two groups of 40 members, one of which worked the morning shift and the other which took the afternoon.
“Our kids, our faculty, and our staff have fed off the energy that the dads bring with solidarity, love, and support,” Alexander told Patch. “I think it’s been really positive.”
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Each member of the Dad Squad has some personal connection to the school. Whether they have a student enrolled in the school or have a grandchild or someone for whom they serve as a legal guardian, volunteers find themselves with a special bond with the school community to which they belong. The experience of being present in the school provides volunteers with a first-hand look at what H-F students go through on a daily basis, which, in turn, provides them with an insight into the issues that are being lived through by students.
For Percy Scott, the father of a 15-year-old sophomore, being granted that opportunity to see what is happening at the school not only has been eye-opening but allows him to provide better guidance to his son. The Dad Squad Day offers men the chance to tour the school and to soak in some of the technology like 3-D printers, aviation technology, and television production studios that are being offered to today’s students at the school.
For Scott, being in the same hallways and classrooms as his son has shown him new ways he can support his student’s academic endeavors.
“Technology changes every day and things that we did 20 years ago aren’t the same as it is today,” Scott told Patch. “So seeing the technology and the rigor of the classrooms made me realize the support that I should be – and can be – to not only my students but to other students by letting them know what resources are available in the community.
“They have a lot and they can literally do whatever they put their minds to. So to be able to reinforce that to our students is critical.”
Alexander says that perspective provides volunteers with reinforced knowledge that they are doing the right thing sending students to H-F. Since starting the program last year, Alexander says he has watched as the Dad Squad has developed into a committed, compassionate group of men who offer support for students in their own way.
While many school districts are made stronger by volunteer “school moms”, Alexander says that the Dad Squad flips the script on volunteer programming and offers a different lens through which who is making local school districts more impactful by giving of their time to local high schoolers.
Alexander credits the Homewood-Flossmoor Parents Association and President Aginah Muhammed for backing the vision of the Dad Squad. What started with 50 men signing up initially to spend a day at the school, where they would be provided breakfast and lunch has grown into a program in which Alexander’s vision of bringing community to a community school has grown – not only in numbers, but in popularity.
“It’s been eye-opening because I think we often overlook our dads,” Alexander told Patch. “This is one way to allow the community that (dads) have always been there. They didn’t just appear; we just sometimes have to give energy to our dads as well. Our moms carry the load all the time, and we love our moms, but the dads are here, too.”
“We know our moms are known for that so we thought it would be a unique touch to kind of highlight our dads as well.”
Scott, who co-chairs the H-F Dad Squad program, said that men from the Homewood-Flossmoor community who volunteer are helping to change the narrative of a stereotype that too often permeates society. While he is thankful for the women who devote time to helping students and volunteer for various school events, Scott said the Dad Squad program offers a unique opportunity for men to show their support.
“It just gives us a space to be present in our school and in our kids’ education,” Scott told Patch. “In a predominantly African American community, the perception is that most dads are not there so we want to show that we are here and not to believe every stereotype and that we do care about our children’s education and well-being.
“So I think it is not only important for us to be there for our kids at home, but to show in force that we are present for the community….there might not be a dad in the home (for some students), but you have a dad in the community that cares about your kid.”
Scott says that when the Dad Squad is in place at the school, he can sense students respond in different ways than they might otherwise. Scott said that while a majority of teachers in the school may be women, he says that the respect shown to role models around the school building is different due largely in part to how young people have grown accustomed to dealing with a father figure.
For Alexander, the men’s presence in the hallways and classrooms is paying dividends.
“I’d say I’m extremely grateful to see our dads impact our school in such a large way,” Alexander told Patch.
He added: “The students know these men because our kids have friends and their friends come over sometimes and they know the dads are part of their lives. So when they see those men in the hall, it’s a reiteration of how supportive their community is – not only outside the four walls of the school but inside the four walls of the school as well.”
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