At school, the administration was constantly planning events that would bring students and parents closer together. They held frequent PTA meetings, in which parents could actively participate in their youngsters education and activities. The teachers put on an "open house" several times a semester, so that parents could see how their kids were doing and have a chance to talk with the teachers on an informal basis. Hillside school also threw special events such as the school Olympics and the science fair.
When I was in the fifth or sixth grade, my teacher handed me a car building kit. It consisted of a block of wood, two axles and four tires. I was to take this kit home to my father, my teacher explained, where the two of us would carve it into a race car. The teacher took great pains to stress that this was a father-son project - the purpose was to allow us to work together to win a prize in a competition a few weeks in the future.
My dad and I worked for several evenings on our car. We carved and sanded and whittled, until we had what we thought was a very nice looking little race car. I was quite proud of that block of wood, even though it was really quite plain.
A few weeks went by, and then it was time to race our cars against a couple of dozen others. The moment we arrived and got a look at the other cars, it was painfully obvious that somebody had missed the point of the competition. Every other racecar was perfect. They were spectacular, they were awesome, they were beautiful.
None of the children had been involved in the making of their race cars. In every case (excluding my father and myself) the racecars had been designed, carved, painted and finished by the fathers.
Not surprisingly, our car came in absolute dead last place. In fact, it had great difficulty getting started down the ramp - I had to give it a little push. This was against the rules, but it was embarrassing just watching it sitting there on the ramp. (This was due to a minor design flaw - the bottom of the car actually touched the ramp. We should have carved a bit more wood off the bottom of the car).
In spite of losing, I was very proud of our race car. You see, I think everyone else missed out - the goal of the event was not to win … it was to get father and son to work together towards a goal. My dad and I had a great time and a wonderful experience. The other kids and their dads missed out - even though they might have won.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.