As the Dads Take Your Child to School day wound down on Oct. 8, Paul McIntosh, the event organizer, was moved to quote Helen Keller. “She said, ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,’” said McIntosh, who is the head librarian at Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing Arts in Harlem. That light shone on the faces of the 150 parents — mostly fathers and father figures — and their teenagers. Together they listened to poetry, music and a motivational speaker, while enjoying breakfast and precious time together.

For some of the students, it was crucial to hide their pride behind faux, eyerolling mortification. “My daughter didn’t want me to come, but I said, ‘Wait a minute, why not? You got the coolest daddy on the planet,’” said Therron Shahiem Johnson, a rap artist and writer. “Truth is we’re very close. But she’s 13.” Chante, his daughter, transcended her Age of Embarrassment and beamed while her father read a poem he’d written. “I like showing him off,” the freshman admitted. “I can always call on my father and he’ll be there for me. I’m lucky.”

Many Wadleigh students live in single-parent households and don’t have fathers or father figures, said McIntosh, who has put together the Dads program for the last four years. Statistics show that singleparent households are four times as likely to be poorer, and the children have lower grade-point averages and are more likely to drop out of school. “The most obvious reward of Dads Day is the number of fathers and father figures who show up,” said McIntosh. “They express great comfort in knowing that they are supported and invaluable partners in the education of their children.” Fabian Spady beat back the statistics to be a loving single dad that his daughter Harmonie, 15, can count on. “I didn’t meet my father until I was 21, and he was never in my life,” said Spady. “I always told myself that when I had kids, no matter what, I would always be in my child’s life. And here I am.”