Once one learns to read, they can learn anything. Knowledge is power. Teachers take children from all different backgrounds and help them build the foundations upon which their lives are built. This is not meant to discount parents, of course. Parents, hopefully, teach all the basics.
Parents are the first teachers.
Besides the letters, numbers, colors and shapes that most children know before kindergarten, parents can teach manners, values, compassion and a host of other valuable lessons. Speaking of these lessons, there may be something to be learned from the recent success of that golfer we've all heard so much about the past few months, Tiger Woods. Ga. We have heard a lot about him being the first black man to win the Masters. Only a few blacks have managed to get into the competition in the past. However, Woods was born black, and has no control over that.