A couple weeks ago, I was with my 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son at a public park pool in our community. It's generally a great place to connect with friends from school. But not all children are friendly -- or at least they say some pretty unfriendly things. One group of 14ish-year-olds made my son particularly upset when he tried to interact with them. Seeing his anguish, a couple of them initiated personal apologies to him on their own.

It's the last week of school in our district, and my own children have been through tremendous transitions this year. In the hands of less capable educators, this week might have felt very different for us. I have had school years as a mom -- and I'm sure you teachers and students have had them, too -- when you're just grateful the year is OVER.