The San Diego SCPA parking lot was overflowing with visitors on Friday, March 5 for the first annual Bring Your Parent to School Day. The event was designed to give parents an inside look at the school life of their children. Additionally, many teachers saw that students became more engaged in classwork when their parents were involved.

“I was surprised by how many parents showed up,” said senior Jackie Szymborski. “For the first time all year, I had to park across the street because there were no spaces in the parking lot.”

Mrs. Lisa Lee, who teaches sixth grade, said that some of her students seemed more excited to
participate when their parents were involved in their classroom activities. She added that some of the parents were “into the classroom activities as much or more than the children.” Another sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Veronica Gibson, planned activities where the parents were intended to participate. This created a cooperative environment for students and parents to work together.

Undoubtedly, parents enjoy seeing their children in action and Bring Your Parent to School Day provided an ideal opportunity to do so. Jennifer Hirschorn, senior, said that her father enjoyed coming to school and witnessing her everyday achievements. “School is very different now than it was when my dad was a student,” says Hirschorn. “He appreciates my good grades more now that he has seen how hard the work is.”

Still, bringing parents along proved frustrating for some teachers. Mrs. Lee said that in her afternoon classes, students were no longer as excited about having their parents with them and performed badly in front of the visitors. “My last period class was rowdy and had gotten over the intimidation of having parents in the room, so I had to be strict. No teacher wants to be a disciplinarian in front of an audience,” said Mrs. Lee.