Watch D.O.G.S. Program Gets Dads Involved at Greene-Hills Elementary School in Bristol

Watch D.O.G.S. are roaming the halls of Greene-Hills Elementary School in Bristol. But they’re not of the four-legged variety – they’re Dads Of Great Students, and they’re bringing a positive male influence to the classroom.

The premise of the Watch D.O.G.S. program is to get dads involved in helping out at the school in addition to the mothers who have been doing so for years.

"Dads have been, I think, an untapped resource. A lot of times, we’ve got students that don’t have that consistent male role model in the home," Principal Scott Gaudet said.

For the kids, it’s an opportunity to have good guys to look up to.

“You see that your parents are here. You would like to impress them and to do your best,” Noah Mulcahy, a third grade student at the school, said.

Bristol father Fernando Alers said that “when my children see me here, it makes them feel that I’m more connected to them in what they’re doing here.”

His daughter Devon agrees.

“He works with me. He helps me spell words and stuff,” the first-grader said.

For this pack of D.O.G.S., it’s not just helping kids that makes the program worthwhile.

“It’s a great connection. I think it’s like we’ve been high school buddies for a long time,” said Alers.

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