“When I became a PTO member in 2000 at Cook, we had 400 PTO people,” Chanda Williams said Thursday night. “Now there are five (at Fairview).”
Williams, who is director of programs for the Columbus Recreation Department, is also Parent Teacher Organization president at Fairview Elementary.
“Grandmama tired,” Williams said, referencing the workload she and a handful of other PTO members shoulder.
“It’s hard trying to come up with things to do for the children. They blow my phone up. I’m pleading with people: we need you all.”
Williams was speaking at an event she and Recreation Director Greg Lewis organized at the Trotter Convention Center in an attempt to find a way to boost parental involvement, not just in the parks but also in the community at large.
About 20-25 people showed up in person, while about 150 watched a stream on Facebook Live. Mayor Keith Gaskin, Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, Police Chief Joseph Daughtry and Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Stanley Ellis all attended.
Eric Thomas, a longtime softball coach in the Columbus park system, also made a plea for more help. He said there is no longer a slow-pitch league at all.
“We got another generation coming up, and we got to appeal to them,” Thomas said. “What made me coach may not be the same thing that makes them come out and coach. We need to make them feel a part (of the program).”
Thomas said the parks need to work to engage “the 18-37 (year old) crowd.”
“We need to find ways to get them involved at the park,” Thomas said. “I want that age group to come in and start coaching and turn this generation around.”
Jones said greater involvement was vital with the park renovation plan on the horizon.
“I support recreation, and I support public schools,” Jones said. “As a council we’re giving them everything we can give them. Parents, please come out and make sure your kids participate so it won’t all be in vain.”
Lewis said the low turnout for the evening proved his point about engagement.
“If I was Perry Mason, at this point I’d say, ‘I rest my case,’” Lewis said. “Something has to happen, and we’ve got to start doing things differently. It’s not just the recreation department – if the schools don’t work, nothing works. Without the schools, we can’t draw people to come here.”
Lewis said he planned to take his message any- and everywhere he could.
“If we need to come to the schools, we’ll come to the schools,” Lewis said. “If we need to go to the community centers, we’ll do that. My humble appeal is that we need to get our parents engaged, and to make them feel appreciated in the process.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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