The PTA wants dads. There can be no doubt about that. You can’t really tell that by looking around, men still only make up about 12% of the overall PTA membership — and they may even be underrepresented here at the 2010 PTA National Convention in Memphis, just have a look around. But the talk around here is largely about dads.

This may be due, in part, to the fact that the president of the PTA is, for the first time in it’s 114 year history, a dad. And Chuck Saylors has made the engagement of dads a centerpiece of his administration.

Evidence of that is in the central initiative being launched at this convention, the Million Hours of Power. The goal of this initiative is to encourage 350,000 men to volunteer a million hours to local schools. It’s an ambitious program, but also tantalizingly within reach. So, dudes, let’s pitch in and do what we can. Join your PTA, pledge a couple of hours. You can learn more about this at http://www.pta.org/topic_male_involvement.asp

I’ve also appreciated the dad-focused programming here at the PTAcon2010. Yesterday, I attended the Male Engagement Summit (no, Twitter, it was not the male *enhancement* summit). The we were with the representatives of the White House, the PTA and DadLabs all in one room, talking about dads. It may be tough to find traction in a news cycle focused on the oil spill, the war, and the economy, but the Obama administration is making efforts to make good on it’s pledge to support responsible fatherhood. Michael Robbins, Special Assistant to the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and the US Department of Education (it’s a very crowded business card), is doing his best to get the word out. Read more about what they’re trying to do at www.fatherhood.gov