Should you decide to do something about it, I sure the heck hope it involves your writing, because OH.. MY.. GOSH.
You are *far* too kind.
But as to your broader point, I think it's these kinds of "small" victories that actually matter. They don't make the news, which makes us under-appreciate them, but I think that it's through these kinds of changes that progress actually happens. The nature of our communications makes us think we all have to be Gandhi or whatever, but as I said, that's not the calling for most of us.
Your experience as a teacher jives with my experience as a parent: it's the hardest thing I've ever done, but the rewards are proportional.
In semi-related news, I so love the confirming force of seeming coincidence - this time in the form of your mentioning proportion less than 24 hours after I embarked on a math unit entitled "Ratio and Proportion" with one of the grade levels. You gotta love when a great analogy falls from the sky.