A glimpse at Anniston schools...

Parental involvement is awful in Anniston's schools. All are failing, and people are fleeing the district.

Still, there are glimmers of hope. Here is a brief story I wrote after attending a parent-student breakfast at Anniston Middle School at 7 a.m. today. (Yuck!)

There would be photos, but my camera malfunctioned, so, sadly, I got nothing!

* A side-note: Only 45% of parents attended mandatory parent-teacher conferences at Anniston Middle in February. Far fewer actually volunteer in the schools.

Anna Delgadillo struggles to communicate in English. Her son, 12-year-old Ramon, often speaks for her.

But one thing that needs no translation is Delgadillo’s love and concern for her Anniston Middle School sixth-grader.

Although the Spanish-speaker has difficulty making herself understood, she knows the value of parental involvement. It’s why she and Ramon dined with about 50 others Thursday, at 7 a.m., at Anniston Middle’s mother-student breakfast.

“I want to start knowing people, and getting to know the school better,” Ramon translates for his mother. “I want to have more interest in (Ramon’s) education.”

Their mix of ages, races and backgrounds may have been diverse, but parents’ reasons for attending breakfast at Anniston Middle strung together a common bond.

“I never really got the chance to come visit the school before, so I took this opportunity,” said Shamica Bradford, mom to seventh-grader Alexis, 12.

“You hear a lot of stuff about Anniston Middle School, so it was important for me to come and visit to see for myself.”

Bradford’s verdict: “So far, so good.”

Organizers began the breakfast with a prayer, asking for a better year at the middle school. School officials have labored to improve the students’ grades and increase parental involvement in recent years, to no avail.

Maybe this year will be different.

“Mothers are the backbone of the family,” Anniston Middle Principal Lynwood Hawkins told attendees Thursday. “You never know the heights your child can reach.

“I ask you to please stay involved with your children, and help them to succeed.”

At the end of the meal, students gave their parents reasons to keep coming back to the school. About a dozen volunteers rose to tell attendees what their mothers mean to them.

“I love my mom, because she keeps a roof over my head, and clothes on my back,” said sixth-grader Dominique Thomas, 11.

Ramon, smiling at his mother, was among the first to volunteer. He kept his words about his mother simple, so she could understand them.

“She’s always there for me when I need her.”