This will be a happy—if exhausting—Father's Day for Allan Shedlin. A longtime supporter of fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives, Shedlin has been working for a decade to promote what he calls “the Daddying Movement.”

In November 2007, the effort took a creative turn when Shedlin launched a new organization, REEL FATHERS, which will blend father-centered film showings and community organizing to reflect on, celebrate and support father involvement.

Connect for Kids has featured Shedlin’s work in past articles:

• The Daddying Movement (2007): For nearly a decade, former teacher and principal Allan Shedlin has interviewed fathers, grandfathers and children about "daddying." He says that a silent revolution is underway in the United States—and it's changing our definition of fatherhood.
• From Father to Daddy (2001): Cool, remote and somewhat intimidating, the Father of old has evolved into someone warmer, more familiar and decidedly hands-on: Daddy.

Building REEL Momentum

REEL FATHERS is looking ahead to Father's Day 2009, when it plans to launch a community-wide film festival in the greater Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico area.

To get there, the organization has partnered with local community-based organizations, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Head Start, Warehouse 21 (a Santa Fe-area teen art center), Native American pueblos and the Santa Fe Film Festival to launch pilot programs.

In addition, partnerships are being planned with Kids First!/Coalition for Quality Children’s Programming, Many Mothers, Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center, Tesuque Pueblo, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM State Penitentiary and White Mountain Apache Reservation.

“These partners offer an amazing range of opportunities for fathers and families to connect with issues related to fatherhood,” says Shedlin.

Working within the community, REEL FATHERS aims to reach specific target populations with its programs—including children ages 4 to 12, teens, disadvantaged and at-risk youth, men in correctional institutions, military dads and Hispanic and Native American men and their families.

Shedlin tells Connect for Kids: “Our mission is not solely to create a festival, it’s to celebrate involved fathers, and to heal, renew and deepen the lifelong connection between fathers and children—supporting stronger, more stable family relationships.”

“We realized, too, that a film festival is not the best first way to fulfill our mission. We saw that we might have a greater impact on the community if we were to provide our core programming—films coupled with discussion, writing and other creative responses—on an ongoing basis with community partners, and build to a community-wide festival a year from now on Father’s Day weekend, June 2009,” he says.

Shedlin says he hopes that REEL FATHERS and his work to raise awareness of the growing Daddying Movement will mean that “coming generations may take a historic look backward at the place of men in our culture and wonder why it took us so long to bring all hands—and hearts—on deck for the collective good of children, families and humankind.”

Congratulations from CFK

For his continued efforts to raise awareness of the Daddying Movement and to encourage men of all ages and walks of life to stay involved in the lives of their children, the May/June issue of Mothering magazine has honored Shedlin as a “Living Treasure.” You can read the magazine's Editor's Note online.

Learn, Connect, Make a Difference!

Connect for Kids will continue to track the efforts of Allan Shedlin and other local activists. To learn more or get involved, visit http://www.reelfathers.com/ or email Allan Shedlin at allan@reelfathers.com

Share your story: If you or someone you know has made a difference for children or teens, let us know! Email us at action@connectforkids.org.