If you feed them...they will come!

At all the previous schools that I have worked at, we always offered food at the different events that we have held. We always did this as a fundraiser and to help remove a barrier for families to come to an event. We always hear that there is not enough time when work is over, for parents to make dinner and get kids back to school for the nighttime event. So, we tried to help families out by offering dinner. This was usually well accepted and parents were appreciative of our efforts to help.
What I have now found at my new school is that they only way some parents will come out to events is if we offer food...for free! We have held three major events during this month and all have had food as an enticement. We held an award's dinner for 2nd - 5th grade students who made the honor roll. We had a couple of hundred people attend to eat and see their kids get their awards. We then held our 2nd Family Night (I previously wrote in September about the 1st one) and we had just under 200 people attend. This was less than the first event, but still a significant amount family involvement. It gave parents an opportunity to interact with their kids in an academic setting. Finally, last week, we held our Thanksgiving luncheon. We had a couple of hundred parents, grandparents and extended family members attend this school day event.
How I wish that the parents would show as much interest in the everyday aspects of school as they do with these events that we hold. I know that these events are a starting point to get families involved! I hope that they will be the seed that is planted to get families to stay involved in their children's education...