“My daughter is in 4th grade. Her name is Daphne. She started going to school at Sacred Heart in second grade. 

I work as an attorney at a law firm here in Japan. So it takes up a lot of my time. But aside from that, I am happy to be a part of the Parents’ Board. 

When Daphne first came to Sacred Heart, we got involved with the Parents’ Board fairly early in the process. Some of our friends were parents here too.  Through these friends, my wife and I got involved in the Parents’ Board. 

My first volunteer effort was to be the chair for Bingo. Being the Bingo chair or being the Family Festival chair is actually a bigger job than being the President of the Parents’ Board. There’s a lot that you need to do and you need to coordinate with a lot of people. I jumped in with both feet and got involved in these activities. The president at that time was trying to encourage other people to take over various roles. He approached me to ask if I was interested in being the Bingo Chair and I volunteered. Everyone was very supportive. 

There are many dads that are involved with the Parents’ Board. I’m certainly not the only one. Dads are involved in a variety of different roles. Currently, the secretary is also a dad. I admit it’s true that there are even more moms volunteering, but there’s a fair amount of dads as well. The president prior to me was also a dad. 

The thing that motivated me to get involved is, as a parent, you have an enormous amount of interest in the school. It’s very important to know what your child is up to and how she is doing. But, you can’t live her life for her. Of course, she has to find her own way. Being involved with the Parents’ Board gives me a chance to be involved with the school which is obviously important to my daughter’s life. It gives you a chance to contribute but also to understand this place where she spends much of her time. So that’s my motivation. I think many of the other parents who are involved are also similarly motivated. 

At the end of last year, I was asked, not to do anything, but just to attend the ceremony of the graduating class. I found that to be a very rewarding moment for me, not because I was involved in anything that these women had accomplished but to just to see the ceremony.  My daughter is quite young so I quite like the idea that she might graduate with a class like that. 

Our goal as a Parents’ Board is to constantly do our best to help make events run smoothly. Family Festival was a big success last year and we are looking forward to making it a success this year. This year we were able to have a Fun Run. Last year, for scheduling reasons, we weren’t able to have a Fun Run, so it’s good to see that happen this year. And there’s also a bunch of social events we are bringing together for parents, which we are excited about.

There is a very strong donations team that got involved recently and they are doing a fantastic job. It’s quite rewarding to give back to the school.” – Mr. Schmidt