Coach Tony Dungy Helps Kick Off ‘All Pro Dad' Program at Fort Worth Elementary School

A group of dads and their students gathered at South Hills Elementary School in Fort Worth for a special gathering Thursday morning.

It was a time to bond because they know parenting isn't easy.

"We get caught up with being dads too much and being the authority in the house,” said Josh Vasquez, a father of a fourth-grade student. “Sometimes, we forget to really spend that quality talking time with them."

Thanks to a national program called "All Pro Dad," they meet once a month to learn skills to be better fathers and share time with their children.

"It's going to make our relationship come closer first of all,” Vasquez said. “It will make other people's households better. When there's communication in the household you have a better run of the house."

Thursday’s conversation was about affirmation and respect. It made a big impression on Vasquez’s son Preston.

"He's thankful of me and he's saying nice words to me and I love him," fourth-grader Preston Vasquez said about his father.

Two-time Super Bowl-winning champion and Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy is part of the national program and spoke to the group Thursday.

"We know that if that man is engaged in the lives of the kids, it's going to be better for them," coach Tony Dungy said.

Dungy said All Pro Dad helps the families and the schools in the long run.

"The dads being part of not just the one morning a month, but coming to school every day,” Dungy said. “Seeing the kids getting off the school buses. Being security guards at the ballgames. They took it to another level."

For Arturo Tapia, he's glad the program has come to his child's school.

"Dads tend to be busy a lot, so it's good to just take a break and just enjoy the moment with our kids here at the school,” said Arturo Tapia, father of a student at the school. “Kind of see where they are at, get to know their friends and teachers, and everybody around that they are around most every day. So, it's really good."

All Pro Dad is in 100 Tarrant County schools. 

They have more than 250 chapters across the state. To learn more about All Pro Dad click here.