Close to the end of eighth grade, my son came home from school to tell me he heard about a “research” program offered by the high school, that students could start taking in ninth grade. High school faculty gave the middle school kids an overview of the kinds of classes that would be available to them once they graduated from eighth grade. My son thought it sounded interesting. So did I. With that news, I started asking other moms of older kids what this research class was all about. I heard a bunch of things: it’s challenging, difficult, a lot of work, intense, and then the news I had been subconsciously waiting for: it looks great on a college application. Yes, that excited and motivated me. I encouraged my son to take the class. Sure, he expressed an initial interest in it, but I certainly grabbed hold of the idea and ran with it. As he completes his second year in the program, from what I can see, it has been all of...