Some students in many of our high schools are graduating this month, but may not have had the most positive or “successful” school experience.

Most of us teachers still celebrate their graduation as a big success in itself, and offer them many good wishes for the future.

Today, The NY Times published a good column with a terrible headline, A Promise to Grads With ‘No Promise’ (who thinks that any of any graduates really have “no promise”?) that offered some useful reflections for teachers to think about.

As we offer some of our students our best wishes, the column is a reminder that we can add to our good wishes by pointing out that many people with similar high school careers created very successful personal and professional lives for themselves, and that we believe they can do the same.