Not everyone can attend school-day functions or chaperone class trips, so Richardson, Texas, room parent Virginia Simms keeps all of the parents involved -- and earns their heartfelt gratitude -- by e-mailing lots of digital pictures of their kids. "I've had parents tell me they feel as if they were right there in the classroom with us," says Virginia, who got everyone's e-mail addresses from the teacher. Other readers extolled the virtues of posting photos on a secure class Web site.