Dulin's Day: National Interest Grows In African-American Parents' Involvement

DULIN’S DAY

National interest grows in African-American parents' involvement

By JUDSON BRANAM
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

DEC 12 1995

National African-American Parent Involvement Day, the brainchild of Ann Arbor Roberto Clemente Principal Joseph Dulin, is making great strides towards living up to its name, organizers said Monday.

“We’re in touch with 30 states so far,” said Dulin, adding that he expects more school districts to get on board after an article appears this week in Education Week, a national schools newspaper.

After an interview with Dulin aired on the Black Entertainment Network, calls flooded into Clemente on Monday from Atlantic City, Pensacola, Buffalo, Springfield, Mass., Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Flint, Denver and St. Croix, Virgin Islands.

NAAPID, planned for Feb. 12, was Dulin’s response to the Million Man March and the challenge laid down there for black men to take the unity and leadership of the march home to their own communities.

Drawing from the African proverb, “It takes an entire village to raise a child,” Dulin said his goal for the event is for a parent, family member or mentor to come to school on behalf of every African-American child in the nation’s schools. Dulin said he hopes to make it an annual event. 

Dulin, who has said that “parents are educators’ greatest allies,” hopes to reverse black students' long-term record of poor performance in school by involving African-American parents more in their children’s education. Along with uninvolved parents, organizers hope to reach parents who work hard and are concerned, but may get too busy to take an active role at school.

Organizations ranging from the Ann Arbor City Council to the National Association of County Officials either have endorsed the event or pIan to do so, Dulin said, adding that “there has been absolutely no one who has refused to do anything.”

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is providing free transportation on Feb. 12, and other area businesses are figuring out how to contribute, Dulin said, adding, “I think Ann Arbor is trying to set an example for the nation.”

Locally, the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts are expected to participate, Dulin said.

Barbara James, a paraprofessional at Clemente who serves on the NAAPID organizing committee, said students have volunteered their free time to help with the effort, including one girl who ran into the hall shouting with excitement after receiving a call from Texas.

“The response has been great and it’s keeping me on my toes,” James said. She has maintained a 24-hour turnaround time for sending information to communities interested in taking part.

Dulin laughed when he recalled a conversation with a representative of an Arizona school district who said his community has only a handful of blacks, so they’re having Navajo Parent Involvement Day.

“All these disenfranchised groups of people we have are looking for ways to get to their kids and help them achieve,” Dulin said. “When I start running off ideas over the phone about things that are being done around the country, they really get excited.”

The organizing committee of National African-American Parent Involvement Day plans to meet with interested parents Dec. 19 at the Ann Arbor Community Center and with organizations on Jan. 13 at Clemente. For information, call (800) 351-4097.