Marlins believe, Marlins achieve

Education notes


James Garrett

James Garrett

One of my favorite TV shows, and I’m not afraid to admit it, is Penguins of Madagascar. In this particular show, you have some pretty ingenious penguins able to do some unbelievable things. They operate under the motto, “Don’t give me excuses; give me results.”

This is what the Brundrett Middle School community – the staff, the students, the parents of the students, and I – should embody: the idea of personal responsibility. This idea seems to get lost in today’s world as everyone is always looking for someone else to blame for everything that goes wrong. But the buck needs to stop with (insert your name).

It just needs to be clear to anyone who is part of an organization that essentially all responsibility falls on the shoulders of the person closest to the situation. Therefore, you can blame anyone and everyone for what happens to you, but eventually you have to realize that the consequences of your actions (or inaction) at all times, and more than likely the detriment, will fall on you. The first step is realizing and accepting responsibility.

As a parent, I know that if I get a report about my son’s behavior, it is my son’s fault, not the teacher’s. And I expect my son to know that as well. Once he accepts that, there is a second step: He has to consider what he could have done differently or better to avoid the behavior that put him in the situ- ation. He, and we all, have choices. Sometimes I feel like this is where we need to have a paradigm shift. We all must ask ourselves, what could I – just me, not someone else – have done differently to get a better result?

We as the BMS community need to understand, embrace, and insist on this philosophy.

We need to create an environment where excuse-making is unacceptable. Yes, school can be tough, but that doesn’t mean that we throw up our hands and just give up. Athletics can be tough too, but anything worth doing is difficult. Some rules you may not like, but that doesn’t matter – your job is only to follow them to the best of your ability. No excuses, just results. Ah…”the best of your ability.” This is another shift that we need to work on.

What does that mean, to do something to the best of your ability? It means working very hard to reach a goal you have set. This is important because it gives confidence and shows that you can do anything you put your mind to, if you really want to. The key is always giving your best effort, regardless of whatever else is going on around you.

Teachers accept responsibility for doing the best they can with the students they have, regardless of all the circumstances around them. Students accept responsibility for their own grades and behavior. Everyone accepts that their piece of the puzzle is their piece, and ultimately, their responsibility. The penguins are on to something: “Don’t give me excuses, give me results.” And this is a lesson for all of us in the BMS community.

James Garrett is the associate principal at Brundrett Middle School and head baseball coach.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.