Kansas Fatherhood Summit
The Kansas Fatherhood Coalition recently sponsored the 6th Annual Statewide Kansas Fatherhood Summit in Kansas City, KS. This year’s theme was “Fathers for a New Generation: Involved for a Better Tomorrow.” Summit participants were inspired, motivated, and challenged by keynote speakers, panelists, and breakout presenters to take care of themselves so they can be supporters and encouragers of fathers.
Keynote speaker D.J. “Eagle Bear” Vanas used the example of flight attendants instructing parents to put on their own oxygen mask before helping their children to describe how we can’t help anyone if we are incapacitated. Keynote speaker Ron Willis was straightforward in saying that most of us are doing too much and that we need to prune our lives. In order to be effective advocates of healthy father involvement in the lives of children, we must take care of ourselves and each other!
Carey Casey, CEO of the National Center for Fathering, delivered a passionate keynote speech on Championship Fathering and encouraging dads to have a positive and active presence in the lives of their children. The 3 components of Championship Fathering are: 1) Loving, 2) Coaching, and 3) Modeling. Championship Fathering, however, goes beyond the 3 core components. Fathers need support from family, friends, professionals and other fathers to succeed as championship fathers.
This year, the Kansas Fatherhood Coalition was involved in creating a Kansas Statewide Fatherhood Directory – “Strengthening Father Involvement: A Resource Guide for Fathers and Service Providers.” The directory was “unveiled” during the summit and distribution is underway. If you have not yet received a copy, contact Tammie Benham with the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center at 866-711-6711 or tbenham@kpirc.org.
The Kansas Head Start Association and its member programs have been very supportive of the mission to promote healthy father involvement in the lives of children. The Head Start-State Collaboration Office has provided a great deal of vision
and leadership for the Kansas Fatherhood Coalition. Kansas Head Start and Early Head Start programs are well represented on the Kansas Fatherhood Coalition, and tend to send parent and staff representatives to Fatherhood Summits to take advantage of the opportunities to gain knowledge and resources that support the strengthening father involvement.
Keynote speaker D.J. “Eagle Bear” Vanas used the example of flight attendants instructing parents to put on their own oxygen mask before helping their children to describe how we can’t help anyone if we are incapacitated. Keynote speaker Ron Willis was straightforward in saying that most of us are doing too much and that we need to prune our lives. In order to be effective advocates of healthy father involvement in the lives of children, we must take care of ourselves and each other!
Carey Casey, CEO of the National Center for Fathering, delivered a passionate keynote speech on Championship Fathering and encouraging dads to have a positive and active presence in the lives of their children. The 3 components of Championship Fathering are: 1) Loving, 2) Coaching, and 3) Modeling. Championship Fathering, however, goes beyond the 3 core components. Fathers need support from family, friends, professionals and other fathers to succeed as championship fathers.
This year, the Kansas Fatherhood Coalition was involved in creating a Kansas Statewide Fatherhood Directory – “Strengthening Father Involvement: A Resource Guide for Fathers and Service Providers.” The directory was “unveiled” during the summit and distribution is underway. If you have not yet received a copy, contact Tammie Benham with the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center at 866-711-6711 or tbenham@kpirc.org.
The Kansas Head Start Association and its member programs have been very supportive of the mission to promote healthy father involvement in the lives of children. The Head Start-State Collaboration Office has provided a great deal of vision
and leadership for the Kansas Fatherhood Coalition. Kansas Head Start and Early Head Start programs are well represented on the Kansas Fatherhood Coalition, and tend to send parent and staff representatives to Fatherhood Summits to take advantage of the opportunities to gain knowledge and resources that support the strengthening father involvement.
