REAL DADS OF THE METRO
D’Andre Foster The Homeroom Teacher BY LANCE EVANS . PHOTOS BY BILLY GREEN. “It was fine!” It’s the dreaded response every parent hates to hear in the school pickup line. This quick, blunt response can almost always illicit feelings of failure as a parent when trying to engage with your child about their school day. We often expect to be so much more than parents. In these moments we hope to be therapists offering cathartic advice to our kids. We want to be heroes. We want to hear about the school bullies and convince our inner saviors not to confront them on the playground. We want to be a resource, but that all stops with that definitive, conversation-ending “fine.”
IN ADDITION TO BEING A HUSBAND AND DAD, D’ANDRE FOSTER IS A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATE.
Thirty-six-year-old D’Andre Foster was sick of hearing the response “fine.” A few months ago, he challenged himself to show up more for his kids. “I challenged myself to be more present in the moment,” said D’Andre. For D’Andre, being present means taking well-intentioned efforts to actively engage with Gabrielle, his 9-year-old daughter, and Demias, his 3-year-old son. With his wife’s help, D’Andre developed a list of ice-breaker questions to get Gabrielle talking about her school day. What started as a clever way to gain insight into the hilarious confessions of an elementary school student actually helped D’Andre further his relationship with his daughter. This isn’t surprising because it’s reflective of who D’Andre is: a titan in Northeast Oklahoma City whose community starts at home. Freshman year D’Andre grew up in Northeast Oklahoma City in the prestigious Wildewood addition. His love for his community runs deep. “I credit my parents for that,” said D’Andre. “I connected to and credited my mom’s experience. She was orphaned at the age of 14. The Eastside has always felt like home. The Eastside has always felt like love for us.” The love D’Andre holds for his parents is palpable and has clearly ignited action in his own household dynamic. He gleefully acknowledges his father as one of his greatest inspirations. “One of the things that I take from my father is soft skills in parenting,” said D’Andre. “He was hard on us, but he was nurturing.” After attending Classen School of Advanced Studies for middle school, D’Andre followed in his parents’ footsteps and attended Frederick Douglass High School in Northeast OKC. He says that decision was his own. “A lot of people would assume that my parents made me go to Douglass,” said D’Andre. “It was my desire and my dream. I wanted to go to Douglass and now my daughter wants to go.”
D’ANDRE FOSTER CREDITS HIS PARENTS FOR HIS LOVE OF COMMUNITY AND FOCUS ON INTENTIONAL PARENTING.
20 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / SEPT-OCT 2022
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