More than football players are being drafted this week.
In a first-of-its-kind program that encourages local fathers and their children to read together this summer, the City of Fort Worth will hold Draft Day for Dads, Tuesday from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex, 505 West Felix St.
The program is part of the city’s 100×25 initiative, a goal that 100 percent of Fort Worth ISD third-graders are reading on grade level by 2025. The program is a partnership with the City of Fort Worth and All Pro Dad, the fatherhood program of national nonprofit Family First.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Tony Dungy are leading the project and will be on hand for the event Tuesday. Price, Fort Worth’s mayor since 2011, has done much to promote education during her time in office. Dungy, who became the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl when he led the Indianapolis Colts to a championship in 2007, has also long been an advocate for education.
Family First plans to establish All-Pro Dad chapters at 21 Fort Worth community centers, adding to the already existing 73 All-Pro Dad chapters in Fort Worth area schools. These chapters will work to offset the “summer slide” in reading that has detrimental impacts to children’s educational progress.
The Draft Day event is open to the public and will conclude with a “draft” of fathers who will volunteer to lead the All-Pro Dad programs.