Missouri celebrates the 20th anniversary of an educational program that started here, went national, then international. It first was suggested in 1979, pilot programs began in 1981, the Legislature then approved the Parents As Teachers program in 1984. Senator Christopher Bond was Governor then and returned to the Legislatureto announce he will push, in Congress, an expansion – $500-Million over three years to extend the program to nearly 3-Million more families. Bond says Missouri was ahead of its time when Mildred Winter with the State Education Department suggested the state put into practice research on brain development by creating the Parents As Teachers program. Winter says the success of the program has even caught her by surprise. Winter says she’s had the privilege of even traveling to other countries to help them establish the program.
