Responsibility

Billy Cundiff and Francesco Schettino. Who are they?

Billy Cundiff was the Baltimore Ravens place kicker who missed a routine 32-yard field goal in the last minute of the semi-final game against the New England Patriots. The miss denied them the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl.

Francesco Schettino was the captain of the luxury liner Costa Concordia that ran aground with over 20 lives lost and many missing.

And what do they have in common, other than having had a bad week? They are both the centre of attention in failed responsibility. But at this point, their characters diverge.

Captain Schettino adjusted the computer program and brought his ship too close to shore and ran it aground. According to the Captain, in the mayhem that ensued, he tripped and fell into a lifeboat that managed to make its way to shore. Despite the desperate pleas of the shore watch, Captain Schettino refused to go back to the ship and assist with the evacuation. Charged with manslaughter and abandoning his ship, there is no acknowledgement from the Captain that his litany of mistakes was linked to the sinking of the ship and the subsequent deaths.

Billy Cundiff missed a critical field goal. The score clock recorded the wrong down and may even have recorded the wrong time. In the ongoing confusion Cundiff rushed on to the field, only to miss the kick. After the game he said, “You face the music. You understand what goes on with the game and the position I play. Everyone’s going to be there to pat you on the back when you make the kick. A lot of times, I try to deflect the attention because it is a team win. And when things don’t go the way you want them to, you’ve got to take the blame.”

One of the things that we know about life is that it is unpredictable. As educators we try to teach our children to take responsibility for their actions. At this point in their lives, the link between actions and consequences may seem trivial, but it is important. As adults the link between action and reaction becomes significant. Our role is to help children make responsible decisions while they are still under our watch. We want our children to grow into responsible adults who will “face the music” rather than jump into the life raft.

Speckled Trout

As many of you may know, last year we started a very special science project, raising speckled trout from their eggs to small fry and then releasing them into the waters around Collingwood.

This year we started with much larger, mature speckled trout in one tank and have recently added speckled trout eggs to raise in another tank.

We started with approximately 35 larger speckled trout. Designing a system that would give them enough oxygen, sustain proper PH levels, and keep the water fresh was an engineering feat in itself. The collective efforts of our science department, facilities department and, most importantly, our students allowed us to build and develop an “ideal” environment. We even had a schedule of faculty members who came in during the holidays to monitor the fish. Mr. Sherrard showed another side of himself and has become known as the “fish whisperer.” As school started in January, I would see students rushing into the science lab to see how the fish were growing and thriving.

At the end of the day last week as I was walking to my office I saw a sullen Mr. Bailey shuffling with a white bucket in his hand. Disaster had hit. While changing the water over half of the trout suddenly died. It was devastating for everyone who had put so much into the project. I asked many students how they felt about it, and the universal answer was, “sadness” and “how could this happen?” But in the same breath there was talk of the remaining fish and how healthy they looked and how the newly deposited eggs would grow to be as big as the other speckled trout. The fry are now bursting out of their eggs, much to the delight of the students (and themselves).

We all searched for answers as to why the fish had died and talked about it with our students. The life lessons that all of us learned from a simple speckled trout experiment are more profound; the importance of taking care of the little details, and of the resiliency to understand that everything may not go as we wish and that there are cycles to life. If we learn from our mistakes, support each other and look at the positives there is much to gain. Amazing how much a few speckled trout can teach us.

Family

Welcome back and I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday.

During the break, we had the opportunity to do many of the things that we always wanted to do. One of the nice things about holidays is that there is no set agenda.  We had the chance to sleep in, go cross-country skiing, go for walks and because of our unusual start to winter we were able to successfully steel-head fish in the rivers around Collingwood.  We also had the chance to sit around as a family and eat dinners together and with friends.  Increasingly it seems these small pleasures are becoming luxury time items, which belies their true importance.

Now that our holidays are over, it is easy to retreat back to rushing from one activity to the next or from one program to the next.  In all of this frantic coordination it is easy to miss the opportunity for us to gather as a family. There have been many studies that show that families that gather for meals on a regular basis tend to raise more confident and engaged children.  Robert Evans has written a book that canvasses this topic, Family Matters.

I always think it is a wonderful tradition to try to carry forward one thing from the holiday season throughout the rest of the year. I would encourage you to think of the family dinner as one of those traditions. It really doesn’t matter what is served, it is about who is around the table.