Dr. Adolph Brown, the youngest tenured full university professor in the country and a graduate of Virginia Beach City Public Schools, shared some “real talk” on the subject of parenting with Parkway Elementary School families at the school’s Literacy Night event Sept. 24. More than 250 families joined school staff for a family dinner and take-home literacy activities to help children become better readers. After a brief welcome and introduction by Principal Toni Diggs, Brown shocked the crowd as he sprang from his seat in the auditorium, danced around the room dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and bandana, all while holding up his sagging pants.
“People wouldn’t even let me sit by them when I asked,” he said. He pointed to a mother in the crowd and said, “She told me that seat was taken. Sure it is!”
The crowd roared. But in seriousness, he went on to explain, how you present yourself, whether as a professional, a parent, or a student, will determine how people treat you.
“In America, everything is based on two things: how you present yourself and how well you speak,” Brown said. “And, this education begins in the home.”
A father of seven, Brown reminded parents that “our children are watching our behaviors and they are listening closely to what we say.”
A quick change and clad in more professional attire, Brown introduced his mother and explained that she was not his friend when he was growing up. He shared hardships he and his siblings faced living in the projects in a single mom household with an absentee dad. Brown publically thanked her for ensuring they grew up with what every child needs most-consistency, structure, limits and boundaries.
Brown also reassured parents that there is a strong support system in place and their children were in very capable hands.
“Virginia Beach cares about student success and we are ahead of the curve,” he said. “Let’s make sure each of our kids is ’at risk‘ for success! Remember, it’s not where you are, it’s where you are going.”
Brown also visited classrooms where students were engaged in hands on literacy activities and talked with community partners who worked closely with the schools to support student achievement.
“It is often said that ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ Literacy night at Parkway affirmed the notion that it takes a community to build a reader and the Parkway family is up to the task,” Diggs said.