What happens to unruly kids? Apparently some of them grow up to become college professors. The author recently attended a workshop with a group of professors who admitted to being rather incorrigible, until they had a significant learning experience facilitated by middle and high school teachers who let them know that resistance was futile. Several professors cited teachers who taught them to write correctly and creatively, even if the experience was not pleasant at the time. The question arose of whether modern teachers have the same capabilities to transform students because of changes in society and mandates from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). A review of the literature about motivation revealed an unexpected dominant theme: engaging parents as a contextual factor in student success. Parental support is often considered unattainable, but researchers cited in this article used ingenious methods to garner parental support for middle and high school populations that represent exceptionality, and socioeconomic, racial, or ethnic diversity.