CLEVELAND, Miss. (AP) - Rockell Ingram was reared in the Mississippi Delta by way of Shaw. He has a passion for education and a love for his son Christian that is undeniable.
Being an employee with Entergy, Ingram works quite a bit, but on his day off you will not find him at a nearby fishing hole or kicked back in the recliner watching Sports Center, you will find him walking the halls of Parks Elementary School in Cleveland volunteering his time to help his son and other students be the best they can be.
To his son he’s just dad; to the students at Parks Elementary he’s Mr. Rock, but each time he visits the school, he’s Daddy on Duty.
“I have been doing this the entire school year and it has been wonderful. I think that if a kid is at the worst school with the worst teachers, I think with parental involvement we can get the best results,” said Ingram.
“When I walked into Parks and I introduced myself to his teachers, I said here’s my best which is Christian and I’m going to give you my best which is my time and out of that we should get the best results for him.”
Ingram’s best has not only paid off for Christian, but for all the other students he has the chance to interact with.
Principal Cody Shumaker said it’s been wonderful to have Ingram in the school for all the students.
“It’s really cool for students to see their classmate’s parent in the school working with them and it does a lot for Christian to see his father helping his classmates. Rock is there for all of our students. He volunteers all over the building not just in his son’s kindergarten class. He even spends time in the third grade science class,” said Shumaker.
“When parents have an active role in their child’s academic life we find students perform better,” he added.
Because of his volunteerism Entergy recently presented a check in the amount of $750 to Parks Elementary on behalf of Ingram.
Ingram earned the grant through Entergy’s Community Connectors volunteer program that provides financial support for employees and retirees’ volunteer work in their communities.
Ingram and his wife Latonya felt it would be a great idea for him to volunteer at the school because usually it’s the mother operating in that role and they both felt it would be good for the kids to see a man.
“My mindset is that moms are always there and we need to have the fathers more involved. Being in the classroom creates a dual parent household. You have the teacher who’s teaching and I’m not a teacher, but I am the male factor in the room,” said Ingram.
Ingram said he enjoys reading to the kids and working in the science class, but encourages all fathers to find what they do well and do that.
“You don’t have to teach just be there. It’s neutral ground. You don’t have to be with the mother, but if your child goes to school then that’s neutral ground. Mr. Shumaker has been great to me in opening the doors and allowing me to come in and be myself,” said Ingram.
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Information from: Bolivar Commercial, https://www.bolivarcom.com
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