Jemtegaard parents relive middle school

More than 100 attend annual ‘Take Your Parent to School’ event

By Kelly Moyer
October 18, 2018 5:30 am
Schools

Isaac Brown (left) attends school with his daughter, Aryanna Albright (right), at Jemtegaard Middle School in Washougal on Oct. 11. (Contributed photo by Rene Carroll, courtesy of Washougal School District)

Jemtegaard Middle School (JMS) students flipped the switch on the classic “Take Your Child to Work” day, Oct. 11, inviting their parents to join them in their classrooms for an entire day of middle school.

More than 100 parents took part in the annual “Bring Your Parent to School” day.

JMS Principal David Cooke said parents often come away from the event surprised by how tiring a day at middle school can be.

“In past years, parents have admitted how surprised they were to be so exhausted at the end of the day,” Cooke said. “I think they come away with more appreciation for the rigor of classes and how hard their students are being expected to work.”

Visitors to JMS during the Oct. 11 event could see parents sitting beside students throughout the building — working on math problems, listening to history lectures and even getting in touch with their more creative sides.

“I love it. It’s a flashback,” said JMS parent Adam Albaugh, while working with his daughter, Landey, a seventh grader, on a clay sculpting project in Landey’s art class.

Albaugh split his time between Landey, her twin sister Bella, and his younger daughter, Lucy, a sixth grader.

“I like to see what they do each day. And see their friends. It is cool to see them in action. I wouldn’t miss it,” he said.

In teacher Scott Hoisington’s sixth-grade world history classroom, several parents, including Amanda Aguilar, who sat beside her 11-year-old daughter, Alisha Vargas, worked quietly, tackling class worksheets filled with historical facts they may have forgotten since their own middle school days.

“Teachers are holding classes as usual, so parents get to see firsthand what a day at middle school is like,” Cooke explained.

This is the second year parent Brent Maxey has attended the “Bring Your Parents to School” day with his son, Cooper, a seventh grader.

“I like to see what they are doing each day,” Maxey said. “I want to be involved and supportive of his education.”

Maxey’s wife, Erika, teaches at the attached Columbia River Gorge Elementary (CRGE) School, and the couple’s two younger children also attend school at CRGE.

“We love having the kids at the same location,” Maxey said of the new JMS and CRGE building. “The whole family is here today.”

Canyon Creek Middle School will have its own “Bring Your Parents to School” day Monday, Oct. 29.

Information contributed by Rene Carroll, for the Washougal School District

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