A group of 30 fathers from Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District gathered Saturday morning at the Yolo Cafeteria for the 2nd Annual Dad’s Conference.  Representing all grade levels, these dads signed up for a day to discuss “The Power of A Dad” hosted by the school district. Attendees enjoyed a light breakfast, a keynote speech, and breakout sessions addressing important topics for today’s dads.

The morning opened with one of the event coordinators, school counselor Eduardo Davila, addressing the importance of showing up to events like this to deepen understanding of the importance of parental roles in their students’ lives.  He introduced the keynote speaker, Eric Doman, as a motivational speaker, father of five, and counselor for the Salida School District.  “Statistics have shown that children with active and engaged fathers are more likely to exhibit positive social behaviors and perform better academically,” Doman stated.  

He spoke from experience of growing up without a stable father figure and how that shaped his goals to change that for his own family. Doman shared his insights about the significance of fathers.  

“Children without active fathers are at a higher risk for behavioral problems, substance abuse, and poor academic performance.  Anyone can be a dad, but it takes work to be an active father.  That’s not to say that families can’t thrive with only a single mother, as there are plenty of those out there too, but if you have the opportunity to be an active father, that can make a huge impact on your child’s life,” Doman emphasized.

When asked if any of the fathers want to do right by their kids, all raised their hands.  

“That’s why you’re here. That’s why we are all here, because we love our kids and want to be there for them whether they are 5 or 35, they need us,” Doman stated.

After a quick break everyone broke off into different rooms to deepen discussions about various facets of fatherhood.  There were two session times with the same four topics offered; so the dads could choose two topics to join for day’s conference.  Spanish translations were provided for the presentations, which were conducted in English.

The topics included:

• The importance of dad’s involvement in their child’s education was presented by Dr. Craig Mello;

• Fatherhood today (balancing work and home life) presented by Dwain Bell;  

• Raising boys, raising girls (fathering skills/relationship building) presented by the keynote speaker, Eric Doman; and 

• How to talk to your kids about drugs presented by Ruben Martinez.

“I am very pleased with the turnout today,” Davila stated.  “Maybe we can turn this into a monthly thing and cover even more topics throughout the year.  There’s definite interest as we see from today.”  

Davila also said that moms have expressed interest in a moms conference and plans are being discussed about having one in the fall.  

“I am so thankful for the support from our district to make events like this happen.  It’s so important for our parents and our students.”