Parents search the hallways for their student’s next class during Back to School Night.
There is one night every year where parents are subjected to the same routine as their high school children: Antioch Community High School’s annual Back to School Night. This year’s Back to School Night occurred Aug. 28 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Like years in the past, parents spoke to teachers about the curriculum, questioned the administrators and met with counselors while following an abbreviated bell schedule.
ACHS athletic director Steve Schoenfelder provided parents with an opportunity to learn about sports and activities. Advocates from the Sylvan Learning Center were also present to take questions about ACT tutoring services that are being offered for the second year in a row.
Like their students, parents were encouraged to support the school by buying Sequoit wear from the Spirit Shop in the gym foyer.
ACHS parent David Cerer visited Back to School Night on behalf of two students, senior Jennifer Cerer and sophomore Anthony Caldwell. Cerer said it was necessary to meet the teachers in person in order to pick up on little cues and personality traits that would otherwise not come through in a child’s description.
Sarah Ogborn, ACHS English teacher and Sequoia yearbook adviser, said although freshmen classes were packed with parents, lesser known subjects like electives were sparsely populated. A common trend seemed to be that the more involved parents were much more likely to attend Back to School Night.
ACHS math teacher and Academic Team coach William Zambole found it harder to categorize the parents that attended. Zambole thought that Back to School Night was most beneficial to the parents, as opposed to the teachers, because they were able to ask questions and receive information. Teachers, on the other hand, do not get much one-on-one time to get to know parents because they see so many in one night.
Zambole said he wanted “to make [the parents] feel secure” and make sure they knew that their child was in good hands. And although Back to School Night was not overflowing with parents, he stressed that the attendance rate was not the best way to measure its benefits.
“It is a benefit to those who come,” said Zambole.
