300 men needed in Prince George’s Co. to welcome students back to school

WASHINGTON — A Maryland lawmaker is asking around 300 men in the Prince George’s County community to volunteer on “Dap Day” to welcome students back to school on Sept. 6.

Del. Angela Angel from Prince George’s County said that on the first day of school, there’s a large presence of women and moms, but she said students need encouragement from the men, too.

“You need both forms of encouragement,” said Angel. “I’m looking for a few good men, a lot of good men.”

The only requirements to participate? A good fist bump.

“Dap is where you do the fist bump. So you dap them up,” said Angel.

The first Dap Day happened last year, but only in a few schools.

“I wanted to make sure when they arrived at school, they saw men from all walks of life — police, fire, businessmen — in all of their different work gear, saying you can win.”

The men formed what she calls a wall of encouragement that the students ran through before entering the school. The men gave the students fist bumps and high-fives, wished them a great school year and told the kids, ‘You can do this!’

“Last year, there was a moment where my heart was just bursting to see the kids’ faces when they first stepped off the bus,” she said. “There’s all these guys and there’s officers. And (students’) eyes get so big like round saucers.”

This year Angel aims to bring a wall of encouragement at all 31 schools in House District 25.

She said that it would take less than an hour to volunteer for Dap Day.

Below is a list of schools in District 25, where men can volunteer.