Parents who make school
better
By Dennis McCafferty
USA WEEKEND salutes parents who are making a real difference
in their local schools. Their dedication is a benefit to the kids
around them -- and an inspiration to the rest of
us.
A classroom morphs into
a courtroom. Math becomes a sport. Elves jump
online.
What exactly is going on
here?
Parents, that's what.
Across the
nation, resourceful moms and dads are masterminding unique projects
and mobilizing others to help educate, clothe and even protect
students in their communities. For the third year, USA WEEKEND
Magazine is proud to share stories about parents making a difference
at their local schools. This year's group of five comes from diverse
places and backgrounds, but all share one trait: They realize that
doing their part can make our schools better for the kids who go
there.
Parent: Judge Louis Schiff,
51, of Parkland, Fla.
What he's doing: Spreading his
passion for the law to local schools
Schiff pounds a gavel when
South Florida students come to his courtroom. He'll even abandon his
bench and head to the classroom to deliver a hefty dose of
jurisprudence. But he's not there to dole out punishment for
delinquents. He's there to cultivate a passion for our legal
system.
At an elementary school, he'll re-create his
courtroom to stage a new twist on a classic kid tale. The trial is
on; "Aladdin" is the defendant. Is he guilty of stealing the magic
lamp? Schiff assigns each child a role within the mock trial. The
kids represent lawyers on both sides, the court reporter, bailiffs
and jury members. One lucky student gets to be judge. Then, while
dissecting the motives and moves of the fabled Aladdin, they explore
the legal arguments of the case. "We'll discuss the pros and cons of
having Aladdin testify on his own behalf," says Schiff, whose
daughter, Amber, 17, just graduated from Broward County schools and
son, Erik, 16, is a junior at Broward's Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High. "We explain that he is presumed innocent, that he is entitled
to due process. Sometimes he's found guilty. And sometimes he
isn't."
Schiff is now planning to launch a permanent
courtroom at his son's school for students taking legal studies
classes there. Teachers came to him with the request, and he thought,
Why not? Expected to start sometime this school year, the
classroom-turned-courtroom would be the real thing. It would be
capable of hosting mocktrials, but Schiff also has his sights set on
conducting actual legal hearings there. "I see no reason why I can't
move my small-claims cases into the school's courtroom," he says.
"The students can watch and get a better sense of procedures and
legal reasoning. Their courtroom learning experience will be right in
their school."
Parents:
Terri Hozhabri, 47, and Laurie Tilley, 48, of Tulsa
What they're
doing: Harnessing the Web to help students get clothes they
need
With the click of a "send" button, Hozhabri and Tilley make
magic happen. They'll find out about a child who's going to school
without a coat in the thick of winter, or another who can't afford
school supplies, and they send an SOS e-mail to more than 120 of
their "Project Elf" volunteers. A rapid response follows, with a
half-dozen lawn bags delivered in no time to a school; the bags are
packed with supplies like notebooks and folders as well as socks,
shirts, coats, pants and shoes. "I'm so proud to call the 'elves' my
friends," Tilley says.
When asked for help, the "elves" respond rapidly.
It started more than a year ago, when
Hozhabri waited for her son, Daniel, 8, to get out of class at
Carnegie Elementary School. A teacher's assistant confided to her
that a student there wore shoes that were so tight they hurt.
Hozhabri learned that other students also had outgrown their shoes,
and their parents couldn't afford to replace them. "Things like this
weren't supposed to happen at our school, which is in a good
neighborhood," says Hozhabri, a stay-at-home mom whose daughter,
Melissa, 12, also attends public school in Tulsa. "So we went out and
bought shoes for them. We bought three pairs. But I thought to
myself: If this is going on in our school, then what's going on in
the rest of the city's schools?"
As a result, she and Tilley
launched Project Elf last fall, an effort that has spread to 10
schools. One particular story still touches Hozhabri: At a middle
school where uniforms were required, a girl's pants didn't fit, and
the button snapped. She couldn't afford to replace them, so she just
wore her shirt untucked, covering up the button. Project Elf got her
a new pair of pants.
"One problem is that elementary
school-aged children receive so much attention," Hozhabri says. "When
they get older, they get forgotten. We want to make sure they're not
overlooked."
Parent:
Karen Treber, 44, of Frostburg, Md.
What she's doing:
Convincing kids that math is where it's at
How can math be
"cool"? Teachers and parents long have struggled with that question,
but Treber has some ideas. After attending Maryland Parent Leadership
Institute workshops two years ago -- modeled after Kentucky's
groundbreaking Center for Parent Leadership at the Prichard Committee
-- Treber decided to focus on boosting academic performance in the
often-tricky topic. Treber thought, Why not make math a sport? Hence,
the concept of "Mathletics" was born.
"Coming up with
a cute name was half of the battle," says Treber, who serves as legal
counsel for Frostburg State University, and whose sons, John, 13, and
Sam, 11, are students at Mount Savage Elementary/Middle School. "You
have to grab the kids' interest."
She thought: "Why not make math a sport?"
The first event
was held one night in February 2005, and no fewer than 100 students
-- nearly half the student body -- turned out at Frost Elementary
(where Sam then attended). They sliced pizza to learn about
fractions. They measured the perimeter of the gym with a ruler. There
were songs, decorations, laughter and, of course, learning.
Mathletics also involves brain teasers when school is in session, and
parents come to class and take part. Something must be working: Last
year, 100% of the school's fourth-graders passed the state assessment
test in math -- a first in the county's history.
Because of her project's success, Treber will chair a parent
advisory council in which she will encourage other parents and
administrators throughout Allegany County to use her model in hopes
of launching activities like math nights throughout the school
system. "We want to make sure that we keep coming up with events and
activities that aren't just instructional," she says, "but are
inviting."
Parent:
Nancy Santiago, 47, of Chicago
What she's doing:
Ensuring that children can walk safely to and from
school
Santiago is easy to spot in the big city, with her yellow
jacket and the insignia "Parent Patrol." Her goal: Get children to
and from school safely.
She's a homemaker with two kids,
Jennifer, 17, and Carlos, 14, in Chicago schools. But when it comes
to children, she's a tough, protective street mom. She was inspired
by personal loss: In 1988, her brother, Jose Morales, was shot to
death. Although it wasn't school-related, the murder inspired her to
make her community safer. Thirteen years ago, she helped launch the
patrol. Teaming up with a city-based non-profit called Community
Organizing and Family Issues, she has spoken to more than a dozen
Chicago schools to expand the effort. To date, more than 100 parents
have signed up.
"It's not hard to recruit parents,"
Santiago says. "I just tell them, 'If you do this for only 15 or 20
minutes a day, look at how much good it will do. And look how much
safer these children will feel.' "
Cover and cover story photographs
of Schiff and students by Jeffery Salter for USA
WEEKEND
