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    Watch Dogs logo
     
     
     
    Media Contact:
    Tim Tiller, MSW
    Parent Coordinator
    602-763-1741
    terramardogs@gmail.com
    Terramar Academy of the Arts logo
     
    Media Contact:
    Sharon Wieser 
    Principal
    623-445-7600    
    sharon.wieser@dvusd.org    
    Terramar Elementary School Implements Program to Significantly Increase Positive Male Role Models Involvement on Campus
     
     
    August 19, 2015 - Peoria, Arizona - Terramar Elementary school is engaging positive male role models by creating volunteer opportunities on campus through the introduction of a Watch D.O.G.S. chapter on their campus.  WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) is an innovative father involvement, educational initiative of the National Center for Fathering.
     
    The mission of Watch D.O.G.S is twofold: 1) To provide positive male role models for the students, demonstrating by their presence that education is important. 2) To provide extra sets of eyes and ears to enhance school security and reduce bullying.
     
    Studies have proven the significant importance positive male role models play in a child's development.  The Family Foundation Fund reports that there are almost 17 million children (25%) living with their single mothers.  They also report about 40% of the children who live in fatherless households haven't seen their fathers in at least a year while 50% of children who don't live with their fathers have never stepped foot in their father's home. Fatherlessness in America has become an accepted normalcy. 
    However, this normalcy is negatively impacting the lives of these children in startling ways:

        Children living in female headed families with no spouse present had a poverty rate of 47.6 percent, over 4 times the rate in married-couple families.
        The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states, "Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse."
        Children of single-parent homes are more than twice as likely to commit suicide.
        71% of high school dropouts are fatherless; fatherless children have more trouble academically, scoring poorly on tests of reading, mathematics, and thinking skills; children from father-absent homes are more likely to be truant from school, more likely to be excluded from school, more likely to leave school at age 16, and less likely to attain academic and professional qualifications in adulthood.
        Adolescents living in intact families are less likely to engage in delinquency than their peers living in non-intact families. Compared to peers in intact families, adolescents in single-parent families and stepfamilies were more likely to engage in delinquency.
        A study using a sample of 1409 rural southern adolescents (851 females and 558 males) aged 11 - 18 years, revealed that adolescents in father-absence homes were more likely to report being sexually active compared to adolescents living with their fathers.
     "These facts blew me away," stated Tim Tiller, a concerned parent leading the implementation of Terramar Elementary Watch D.O.G.S. chapter.  He went on to state, "I knew that we needed to do something to provide students on campus with constant access to positive male role models."
     
    "It is our hope that the introduction of this program on the Terramar campus will create an avenue for dads and other positive male role models to invest time with our students.  This time is expected to have lasting effects on the lives of the students," shared Sharon Wieser, Terramar Principal. "We expect to see many benefits from this launch," Wieser went on to say.
     
    "I wholeheartedly support programs like WATCH D.O.G.S. in our schools.  Providing opportunities for proactive role models in our schools is essential, and WATCH D.O.G.S. enhances that by focusing on positive male role models.  It's good for communities, great for schools, and awesome for students," confirmed Deer Valley Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. James R. Veitenheimer.
     
    Terramar will be joining the 4,704 active WATCH D.O.G.S. schools in 46 states along with schools in the following countries: Canada, China, Mexico, Barbados and Puerto Rico. Those schools have reported many benefits following the launch.  These benefits include:

          Students gain positive male role models.
          Schools gain an extra set of eyes and ears. The presence of a father or father figure will provide an additional deterrent to bullying, enhance a sense of security in the building, and will help to create an environment conducive to learning.
          Fathers get a glimpse of their students' everyday world and learn about the increasingly complex challenges and decisions today's youth are facing. As a result, they can learn to relate better to their student and hopefully connect with them.
          Fathers gain a greater awareness of the positive impact they can have on their student's life in three critical areas including: academic performance, self-esteem, social behavior.
          Due to budget shortfalls and cutbacks, often teachers are presented with larger classrooms each year. Fathers and father figures (aka Watch D.O.G.S.) provide real and important help for the teachers and the students.
     
    Any positive male role model of the community who wants to make a difference in the lives of students at Terramar is encouraged to attend the Watch D.O.G.S informational meeting on Thursday, August 27th and 6:30pm in the multi-purpose building located at 7000 West Happy Valley, Peoria AZ 85383.  Stay up-to-date on future Terramar Elementary Watch D.O.G.S. events and success stories by visiting our website .
    About Watch D.O.G.S. 
    Watch D.O.G.S. are fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father-figures who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S. school.
    Visit or call 1-888-540-DOGS (3647) to learn more about Watch D.O.G.S. and their initiatives.