Two men left a dry cleaners on Prospect Avenue to walk south toward 75th Street to try to see what I had described.</p><p>They had a hard time believing a billboard with a positive message about education had been up in the area. It had gone unnoticed, though it had been there nearly two months.</p><p>Curiosity compelled Patricia Bradley to walk from the New Day Child Development Center & Preschool, 7429 Prospect Ave., to see the billboard across the street from her business. She hadn&rsquo;t noticed it either.</p><p>Everyone agreed that the image of the black family was beautiful and the message printed in bold letters was sound: &ldquo;Read To Them,&rdquo; it says to a mom and dad holding a book. They have their two young children between them.</p><p>&ldquo;I think it reinforces the literacy skills we teach here,&rdquo; Bradley said after seeing the billboards the Black Agenda Group put up this summer. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s encouraging African-Americans to read to their children. Sometimes I think that&rsquo;s what is lacking.&rdquo;</p><p>The posters went up in July. The Black Agenda Group, founded in 1985 to address community concerns, wants to raise funds to put up similar billboards metrowide and get them on buses to encourage more parent involvement in children&rsquo;s education.</p><p>Research shows that children of color &mdash; particularly those in poorer families &mdash; often start school with a vocabulary that is 2,000 to 4,000 words less than white children&rsquo;s. The gap grows as kids get older.</p><p>Another billboard near 25th Street and Troost Avenue shows an inquisitive black boy. The caption in bold print says, &ldquo;Nutrition Matters.&rdquo;</p><p>Without proper nutrition, children can&rsquo;t concentrate in school. Their developing minds just aren&rsquo;t getting what they need.</p><p>A high percentage of kids in school districts metrowide qualify for the free and reduced-cost lunch program, which is a direct indication of the spreading poverty in this community. The Black Agenda Group wants parents and children to heed that message.</p><p>Parents have the responsibility to be their children&rsquo;s first teachers. The campaign is part of a combined effort by businesses, churches and other groups to promote education, safety and the well-being of children.</p><p>The Black Agenda Group quotes President Barack Obama: &ldquo;There is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games and read to their child. I speak to you not as a president but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children&rsquo;s education must begin at home.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s easy to miss the instructional billboards and harder still to catch the fine print, which looks like movie ratings, saying &ldquo;PG-24/7: Parental Guidance Essential. They&rsquo;re your children. It&rsquo;s your responsibility. Teach them well.&rdquo;</p><p>Children&rsquo;s education is a key focus of The Black Agenda Group, said Rosa James, a facilitator in the organization. </p><p>Carl Evans, a retired principal and chair of the Black Agenda Group&rsquo;s education committee, said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never met a parent who didn&rsquo;t care.&rdquo; Parents just need support.</p><p>The billboards are part of a &ldquo;Campaign for Parent Power in Education.&rdquo; James, a retired educator, said parents and teachers needed stronger bonds. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the schools and the community have formed a relationship that they should have,&rdquo; James said.</p><p>Reading to children and making sure kids have the proper nutrition feed their success. But that focus gets lost in today&rsquo;s fast-paced society.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes the simpler things in life are the ones most forgotten,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all geared toward kids doing better in school regardless.&rdquo;</p><p>The billboards have been at more than a half-dozen locations. But today&rsquo;s hurried lives make it difficult for the messages to attract passers-by.</p><p>The Black Agenda Group understands that, which is why it hopes to put up more billboards soon. That should increase the exposure and the likelihood that more adults will heed the call to get more involved in the lives of their children.