Teaching Tolerance is an excellent magazine, but the name alone makes me sad. The fact that society needs to "teach tolerance," let alone have a publication named that, makes me question how well people embrace our multicultural world.

We, as parents and educators, must look at ways to bring an understanding to each other's cultures. We must look to our community organizations for help. In Topeka, one such organization with which I work is Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Delta Sigma Theta is an international sorority with over 175,000 members. It is a sisterhood of predominantly black college educated women committed to public service. Each year they hold an essay contest as part of a scholastic competition which was started in response to limited information on black history offered in public schools.

Initially, the contest was opened to black youths; however, students from other ethnic groups expressed interest, so the competition was expanded to allow everyone to participate. This is only one organization that is willing to offer support.

As parents and educators, it is up to us to instill "the spirit" in our children to explore different cultures. We can make this learning fun and rewarding by showing our own interest in the world.

Time spent together with our children talking and researching famous African Americans is a great way to open the multicultural window. This also helps improve library and writing skills, and increases knowledge on history, besides opening up communication between parent, teacher and child.

As educators, we need to show our students that the challenge need not be an impossible task. Make the learning exciting. My classroom had "working lunches" once a week. We met in the library, had lunch, discussed our research, and reflected on what else needed to be discovered. Little unknown facts became exciting "found treasures." Group cooperation skills were enhanced when everyone was working together to find information. How exciting, as a teacher, to watch a young person struggle to find just the right words to put the finishing touches on that giant triumph!

When, finally, the books are closed and the essays are put into the mail, we celebrate. We are all winners at this point! Whether or not we receive that elusive letter saying our essays were the "chosen ones," we celebrate US.

So, let us as educators, parents, students, and communities demonstrate harmony and continue to grow, learn, and embrace our multicultural family.

As Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."