For Keshia Linsey, the best way to know what is going on with her 15-year-old is to be involved in her school.
"Being an active parent is a good thing, because you know what your kid is going through," said Linsey, who spends a lot of time volunteering at Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta.
She helps with her daughter MaKayla Baugh's basketball team and makes sure school supplies are accounted for, even though she has a job.
"It's a priority thing," she said of volunteering. "If you can give the man eight hours, you should be able to go to school for two hours. You can do something. It's about giving back to your community."
Schools throughout metro Atlanta have opportunities for working parents to get involved, even if they have limited time.
"We have a great volunteer presence," said Marci Sledge, principal of Pinckneyville Middle School in Gwinnett County. "We look for creative ways to let parents be involved."
Some parents are willing to help out as much as they can on their own time at home, Sledge said, so teachers will send projects home with a child.
"It may not seem like much, but it still really helps the teacher get ready," Sledge said.
In addition to joining the Parent Teacher Student Association, which is mostly an after-hours activity, parents can volunteer to work in the concession stand or keep score sheets at sporting events.
Even if work schedules or responsibilities prevent weekly involvement, parents can find many opportunities for one-time volunteer efforts at most metro Atlanta schools. For Pinckneyville Middle, those opportunities include the annual International Festival or field day.
Sledge said many parents aren't able to be at school every day, "but they say, 'When you have field day, I can arrange to have a day off.'
"I get it. I can't get away from my job, either, to go volunteer at my grandson's school or anything," she said. "I don't think it's so much about how often (a parent volunteers). It's about being connected. The child knows they are invested."
Many Gwinnett schools have an advisory board, Sledge said, that requires going to work an hour late only four times a year. She encourages parents to explore this option.
Pinckneyville Middle recently began focusing on outreach to the Hispanic community. Sledge said several Spanish-speaking parents now volunteer to translate at various school events.
"I just think any connection that kids have to a school outside of a classroom and any connection that parents have, it helps," Sledge said. "It builds the school community."
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