KATY, Texas – ‘Watch D.O.G.S.,’ or “Dads of Great Students,” is a father or male-involvement initiative that has really taken off in Katy ISD.
“It’s overwhelming. Parents and father figures, they want to get involved. They want to be a part of the school day, they want to be there for their kids and other kids and their community,” James Strickland said.
It is another way to help keep students safe. The volunteer initiative is at dozens of locations within Katy ISD and similar programs at other districts as well. And when they are volunteering, they do a little bit of everything—that includes greeting the kids, doing perimeter checks to make sure that the campus is safe, helping the library reshelve books, and even helping with morning announcements.
Gary Aston has a 6-year-old daughter. He says he got involved because he wanted a way to be actively involved in the school and the community.
“Having us there as a security measure it way to watch our kids and their friends and other kids they are involved with but it’s really to help keep an extra set of eyes on everything around them,” Aston said.
The mission is to be a positive influence and alert the proper channels if something seems out of place.
“The involvement we have is a positive presence--- we are not armed guards we are not security guards by any means when something does happen we have a chain of authority to report to t let those who are trained go ahead and act on it in a situation that might be outside of normal circumstances,” Aston said.
There is a background check and different criteria that they go through to make sure that volunteers are properly vetted and are bringing a positive influence to the campus. If you want to get involved, the best way is to reach out to your district.
