TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A45   
   MSGID: 1:227/702 fb5b40fb   
   TZUTC: -0400   
      
   Fellow Dads,   
      
      
   For those that would like to participate, I decided to take just go for it.   
    I've created a FidoNet All Pro Dad Chapter and once a month will be   
   posting an event that we and our children can particapte within BBS style.   
      
   I'm not good at writing scripts so bare with any typos as I translate the   
   contents of the webpage:   
      
   ----------------------   
      
   What is All Pro Dads?   
   We are a group of people passionately committed to bringing international   
   focus to fathers around the world.  OUr message will inspire you to embrace   
   what you are, give tenderness of heart, and boldness of character as a dad   
   and husband.  We are constistently here for you to provide guidance and   
   practical tips in raising your kids in a life giving wawy.  All Pro dad is a   
   program of Family First.     
      
   My additions:   
   It was founded by an NFL player and Coach Dungy   
   (Former coach of Tampa Bay, and Indianapolis,) now NFL commentator.  Tony   
   found it difficult to spend time with his children with the pressures of   
   being an NFL coach and realized that many dads, regardless of career, suffer   
   the similar time restraints.  Tony's oldest son had committed suicide, which   
   strongly impacted Tony for obvious reasons, which lead to his retiring as an   
   NFL coach.   
      
   ----------------------   
      
   My Past Experience with All Pro Dad:   
   I began attending all pro dad meetings at my sons school when my soon to be   
   7th grader was in kindergarten.  I had been in corporate and traveling   
   frequently throughout the week, and or going into work prior to him waking   
   up, and getting home with enough time to eat dinner with the family, and go   
   to bed.  Weekends were spent getting caught up on errands and carving out a   
   little bit of play time with my son.  I was that dad who always said "I have   
   to work," and still understand that without work I can not care for my   
   family.  However after attending my first meeting, I realized two three   
   things:     
      
   1.  My son was was also working very hard at school -- it's his job and   
   current career.  Seeing his work displayed on the hallways of his grade   
   school was a pride moment for him to be able to share with me; and a pride   
   moment for me to see how much effort he had put into whatever was displayed,   
   be it art or a well written story that made it to a top story board.  His   
   name on a school awards marque.  Our school system has core values they teach   
   the kids, and he had been honored for an entire week for having acheieved one   
   of the core value awards.  Seeing it awoke me to the reality of how valuable   
   it was to him, that I was present as his office, seeing his accomplishments,   
   meeting his teachers, etc.   
   2.  The First discussion topic was very basic and upon initially reading the   
   discussion topic, I felt it was going to be  waste of time.  The meeting   
   started, and it hit me, "I had assumed he understood this basic concept," but   
   during the Q&A it was apparent that the assumed was unknown to him.    
   Moreso,some topics were he was struggling with in school.  Be it bullying,   
   doing his best and what that means withi the classroom or at home, etc...   
   3.  He had things he wanted to ask me, share with me, that there never seemed   
   to be a time, place, or specific prompt for him to do so during the hustle   
   and bussel of life.  I left that meeting, walking him to class, and leaving   
   with a tear within my eye.  I had overlooked the simplicities, was more   
   focused on the discipline and bigger picture education of global, community,   
   and household responsibilities, etc.... It hit me that many of the topics   
   within All Pro Dads were fundamentally necessary foundations needing taught,   
   prior to him ever grasping the need to "volunteer" as an example.   
      
   So I started a Chapter at his elementary school we moved to a new home where   
   the district did not have an All Pro Dad Chapter.  My prior captain wanted to   
   help, and we ended up calling Family First to see if there were anything they   
   could do to assist.  We got more than asked for:  The Sunday Night Football   
   bus showed up, 5 former Indianapolis Colts football players spoke, and signed   
   autographs, and the mascot of the Colts "Blue" was there as well.  The   
   Principle made me shut down the RSVP when the attedance breached school   
   capacity.  We had some 500 kids and dads in attendance, chick fa la had   
   catered the entire event and offered discounts for each meal, and the SNF bus   
   had  a scavanger hunt outdoors in ending, where football prize bags were   
   hidden around the entrance of the meeting.  A few left with some very cool   
   prizes. This lead to me being asked by dads of other schools to assist them   
   in starting a chapter at their school within the district.  In all, and   
   collectively, we founded 6 chapters, that still exist and are active today.    
   each are supported by the schools PTO (important so the captain doesn't have   
   to pay liability insurance, and gets the marketing of the school supporting   
   its format.)   
      
   So ... since there is a "DAD" FidoNet echo, and I want to participate within   
   the echo.  This is how I know best to.  This is not me leading a meeting,   
   this is me providing the content of a dedicated 1 hour you spend with your   
   kids.  Upon doing so, each who attended can use the DAD echo to share how   
   things went, your kids are more than welcome to as well!  While I don't   
   expect all to want to participate, I surely hope you don't mind if I do, and   
   if I utilize this echo as a way of expressing my pride in being a father.    
   Feel free to ignore if you choose.  Or participate if you like.  But with   
   school having been cancelled, us still under stay at home orders, I felt this   
   was a good way for my childrend and I to sustain a meaningful program that   
   has allowed us to bond.   
      
   -------------------   
      
   Is All Pro Dad a Christian / Religious Group:   No.  All Pro dad has many   
   Christains that attend, some groups do pray prior to beginning their meetings   
   -- but due to school restrictions, its rare unless hosted off site.  All Pro   
   dad has a fundamental belief that Spirituality is an important value to have   
   within our lives, regardless of your religous background, or lack of.  All   
   Pro Dad meetings are very sensitive to cultural and religious diversity and   
   keeps the material focused on personal relationships between dads and kids.    
   As the one posting the monthly content, If a meeting is not sensitive to such   
   diversity, it will be removed from the content of the topic of the month.   
      
      
   ----------- Sign up ------------   
      
   All Pro Dad is broken into the following: 1 minute a day, subscribe to the   
   email link to receive a one minute read on on powerful and practical fatherhood   
   tips to your inbox at:   
      
                          www.allprodad.com/subscribe/   
      
   1 Hour per month, dads across school systems globaly meet for breakfast and   
   share discussion topics and conversations with their children. In a world with   
   busy work schedules, its our opportunity to dedicate time recognizing their   
   hard work at school, while also dedicating our time listening to their concerns   
   as it relates to the social and academic challenges they face at school -- that   
   similarly we face within our careers, and our opportunity to provide teachable   
   moments.   
      
   1 time per year, Sports Stadium events lead an All Pro Dad event, an   
   opportunity for dads and kids to meet some of their favorite sport teams   
   players and coaches, and participate in father/child team building activities   
   that help further bond the relationship between father and child.  In the US,   
   the National Football League holds annual All Pro Dad events in every City   
   that hosts an NFL team.  I personally (Doug Cooper) have attended   
   Indianapolis Colts All Pro Dad day events, where my children have had the   
   opportunity to meet players and coaches, who lead fun interactive team   
   building activities on the very field, within the very stadium, the Colts   
   play their professional games.  While I am not sure how things look   
   internationally, a tradition can easily be created to plan an annnual event   
   with your kids to simply attend a sporting event, go camping or fishing,   
   etc... something special where one day a month is for the Father and Children   
   to bond.   
      
   Combined the aforementioned is a small commitment of time that is ON   
   PURPOSE attention given to our children, carved out of our busy lives,   
   that fosters an even stronger bond with our children.   
      
      
   -----------All Pro dad BBS Style --------------   
      
   What I'd like to propose is a way to run once a month "breakfasts" we post on   
   the Fidonet DAD echo.  I signed up as a team captain ($50 annual membership   
   fee,) to gain access to the meeting structure and content they provide. I'll   
   send out a link to RSVP to.  The RSVP form is quick and easy to complete: name,   
   number of attendies, and an email address to communicate changes or reminders   
   to.   
      
   How the meetings look:   
   1.  In schools we can replicate a majority of it from within our own homes.    
   I'm open to zoom calls but with the different time zones and countries, I   
   think it's best to just find a way to apply it to tradtional BBS formats, and   
   to post and participat when your breakfast occurs within your own home.   
   2.  The metings flow as follows:   
       -A- special breakfast for you and your kids: donuts, chick fila, your   
   choice .. make it something they don't get every day so it's obvious its a   
   special event.   
       -B- I'm Proud of you -- in physical or virtual meetings, dads take turns   
   introducing their child and speaking talking about 1 thing that you are most   
       -C- proud of your child for, that stood out most from the prior or current   
   month. discussion topic will be introduced My morning of the meeting, along   
   with questions that both the dad asks the child, and the child asks the dad,   
   relating to the topic.  You're free to post any answers and or a general   
   synopsis on what you learned from your child and your child you.    -C- All   
   pro dad challenge of the month is an opportunity for you and your children to   
   pick a way to practice the months topic within your home, community, or   
   charity of time to those in need.        
      -D- Prizes ... normally the Captain   
   would buy cheap prizes and raffle them off to the kiddos, to end the meeting.   
   However, that's obviously difficult within a BBS format.  However, it is an   
   opportunity for you to discover ways to do so at home -- a frisbee you give   
   them and commit to play over the weekend, or whatever a kids gardening kit,   
   with a commitment to introduce them to growing and caring for gardens, or a   
   simple sticker that says "you're the best!"  Your choice.        
      -E-  Normally these formats are gradelevel specific, meaning, broken into:    
   gradeschool, Middle School, High School.  I selected the grade school level   
   but each topic can be taylored to the specific age of your child.   
      
      
      
   --------------RSVP to the First Fido BBS All Pro Dad Meeting today! ---------   
      
      
   First meeting topic date:     
   Thursday, June 11th, 7am, your time.  If 7am does   
   not work, make it what time in the morning fits within your grade level.     
      
   Location:  Your home, a breakfast spot in town, a park, anywhere your laptop   
   will have access to your BBS and the internet.   
      
   Who can attend?  Dads and Kids!  However, some "Dad's" are single moms that   
   play both roles when a childs life is absent of a father, they are also   
   encouraged to attend.  Or they may find a virtual meeting on the family first   
   website under "iMom," a program specific to moms and kids sharing 1 hour a   
   month with their children, dedicated to them.   
      
   Topic for June: Courage   
   "Courage is the ability to face and overcome fears.  There are a lot of fears   
   children face with the current state of COVID19, but also more simple fears   
   relating to school, or friendships, overcoming a fear of trying a sport,   
   preparing for college, etc.  It is an important attribute of your childs   
   character to learn to overcome fears.  Raising children to be courageous   
   gives them the tools to conquer difficult challenges."   
      
   RSVP to the newly created FIDOnet Chapter of All Pro dad at:   
      
      
   RSVP--------->  www.allprodadchapters.com/chapters/12159 <----------RSVP   
      
      
   Once I have even 1 person RSVP, I'll create a google document group, so   
   that you may access the months topic contents.  These contents each months   
   are very consistent:   
      
   1.  Leader guide.  This will help you prepare for the simple time you'll   
   spend with your child structured around the topic of the month.   
   2.  Usually a funny, or inspirational short video, supporting the topic of   
   the month.   
   3.  Optional power point deck, obviously not necessary unless you require   
   bullets to keep the rythmn of a more strucuted meeting and /or a child who   
   focuses better when slides are displayed on screen in class.   
   4.  Discussion topic hand out -- not needed to hand out, just to pull up as   
   this contains the questions dad asks child, and child asks dad.   
   5.  Challenge of the month.  Will give examples of optional challenges.   
      
   If nobody participates, I'll post this once a month until topics run out, and   
   won't renew the membership or chapter.  However I'm confident that after a   
   couple of meetings, most will find value within this excellent dad/child   
   program.   
      
   I don't see the above google drive being absolutely necessary for long.   
   I may, or someone smarter than I may, find a way to scrub the text from   
   a .pdf within a script, into a text file that can be uploaded to the   
   message area.  However if liked I can keep posting the content to it as well.   
      
      
      
   Thanks!   
      
      
   -Doug   
      
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