The scorching summer drizzled away to a rainy June Monday morning. And it’s back to school time again. For those of us with growing children, it means waking up our kids early and getting them there before the morning bell rings. I remember my yesteryears. Going back to school evoked mixed feelings…the joy of reuniting with old friends, but at the same time, the end of carefree vacation time.

Have any of your kids asked you why they have to go to school? I am sure you yourself in your younger years must have thought you had better things to do than work on an Algebra equation, memorize a poem by Jose Rizal, or make a report on Galileo. Therefore, your most important task as a parent to your child is to imbibe in them a strong love for learning…to encourage inquisitiveness about their surroundings and life as you know it.

Indeed, I am sure you have found out that learning is a never ending life long experience. We can all learn new things each day, and the acquisition of knowledge always makes us better able to meet the challenges of life. In your professional careers, learning new skills, on our own or with the help of our companies, is a good way to advance in the corporate ladder.

That is why in line with the Lopez Group values of business excellence and employee welfare, seminars and workshops are given to employees from time to time. Aside from fostering unity, these are great opportunities to learn something new, which can directly benefit your career and your company’s bottom line. Through life long learning, we get a sense of pride in our new capabilities to meet goals–personal and corporate. Getting our children to love and appreciate the learning opportunities we give them in and out of school is one of the best ways we can get them ready to meet whatever life may throw their way and because all of us in the Lopez Group are among the lucky ones, we have the social obligation to help those with a thirst for learning, but not the resources to quench it.

This is another Lopez Value of social responsibility. It is for this reason that we have initiatives to help those who want to go to school but are too poor to afford the costs of doing so. If you are so inclined, you may want to learn more about the work of our foundations like the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Phil-Asia Assistance Foundation Inc. (PAAFI), and ABS-CBN Foundation eMedia. No assistance is too little that it won’t help a five-year old living in a push cart from learning his ABCs.

Indeed, school opening time is a good time to practice the Lopez Values in and out of our offices. It is all up to us to walk our talk.