Wekiva High School launched Apopka’s first high school All Pro Dad chapter on Thursday in classroom 527. 

“All Pro Dad Chapters provide an opportunity for dads to spend quality time with their children before school to strengthen their relationship,” the All Pro Dad website says. “One day a month, other dads and their kids meet together and walk through different topics that invoke meaningful conversations.” 

Wekiva’s family engagement liaison and freshman football head coach Lamarcus Jackson serves as the chapter’s “team captain.” For the chapter’s first meeting, Jackson shared a brief video sharing practical steps toward refining time management and asked studentsquestions afterward. 

“Time management is something that we can all benefit from, even us as adults,” Jackson said to the students. “But again, we want to make sure that we’re helping you guys do better than us.” 

Jackson and Wekiva parent Lamar Wright also led a “pride moment,” in which they complimented each student on their personal growth and character qualities. 

“I’ve watched these boys go from freshmen to now seniors to young men,” Jackson said in an interview. “In a sense, these are my kids.” 

This week’s handout included encouragement for fathers, suggested activities for fathers and children to build time management skills together, and related resources from the All Pro Dad website. The topics will rotate with each meeting.  

According to Jackson, representatives from All Pro Dad discussed the benefits of the program with Orange County Public Schools in June 2024. This year, OCPS paid the dues for area schools like Wekiva to start chapters. 

“They brought it to us, the engagement liaisons of the schools,” Jackson said. “I just took on the role of being the team captain to start the meeting until we find a dad.” 

Several elementary and middle schools throughout Apopka feature an All Pro Dad chapter. Wekiva, however, is the first to start a high school chapter, according to the All Pro Dad website. Jackson hopes the chapter will eventually grow to include 20 to 25 households. 

“I want you guys to make sure you tell your fathers, if they want to come be a part of this, to come and be a part,” Jackson told students. “One of the things that the studies and the numbers have said is, when dads are more involved in school, you get more out of students.” 

The Wekiva All Pro Dad chapter will meet on campus every fourth Thursday of the month at 11 a.m., with the exception of the summer months. Parents may register at the Wekiva chapter’s page on the All Pro Dad website.