“Knowing who your child’s teachers are, what school they’re in, the things they’re learning in the classroom, is extremely important.”

Joshua Johnson

Welcome to Navigating STL Schools, a podcast.  

Today’s guest is Joshua Johnson, founder and CEO of Dope Dad, a network of fathers that aims to mentor and support other men to be good dads. Joshua, a lifelong St. Louisan, is the proud father of a 5-year-old daughter. In this episode, Joshua sits down with Staci to discuss Joshua’s own years and experience in St. Louis schools, his process in selecting a school for his child, and how schools can encourage other dads to be involved in their kids’ education.

They discuss:

• The Dope Dad organization
  • The mission is to highlight, inspire and encourage the positive relationships and interactions between fathers and children
  • Started in St. Louis, but beginning to branch out
• Joshua’s personal K-12 experience
  • Born and raised in St. Louis, attended STL schools
  • Had a great public school experience, forged lifelong friendships
• Fortunate to have a good relationship with his own father
  • Learned from this how important it is to dads to be present in their kids lives, and to have access to the resources to push their kids as far as possible
• Dope Dad aims to provide all fathers with those resources, and support
• Joshua’s process to select a school for his daughter
  • He learned that the way things are in STL isn’t the way it is everywhere
    • Some districts, schools are determined by neighborhood
    • Some schools you have to test into or meet certain criteria
  • His partner weighed in with her personal experience in private schools
  • They knew they wanted a school with interactive learning, diversity
  • Knew some schools they didn’t want their daughter to go to
  • Asked a lot of people for their thoughts
• Adapting to pandemic learning
  • Virtual learning has been difficult
  • The effects of co-parenting in a pandemic
• The inspiration for Dope Dad came about because of the reaction of other people to his close relationship with and active involvement in raising his daughter
  • I’ve learned that everybody doesn’t have the same family structure
  • Traditionally fathers aren’t expected to fill certain roles
• What can school systems do to encourage dads to get more active and involved in their kids’ education?
  • Include fathers in curriculum conversations, classroom day-to-day
  • Inform them, sometimes dads just don’t know
  • Creating spaces that encourage dads’ involvement
• Some ways to encourage children outside of the classroom
  • Teach being responsible for your actions, and following instructions
  • Encourage patience, persistence
• What do fathers need to do to get more involved?
  • Be informed
  • Know your child’s teacher, know what they’re learning
  • Ask your kids about their day. What did they learn? What did they do?
  • Reinforce the lessons at home, if you can
• One tool every family should have for success in K-12
  • Internet access, specifically Google and YouTube
  • Technology is so important and useful in this generation
• What can NavigateSTL Schools do to help parents?
  • Teach them what’s important
  • Break down the data
  • Make sure the information people are getting is current