![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
Have you ever been told that “failure is not an option?”
This simple phrase has been Day Creek’s motto since the school’s inception in 2004. The original principal and staff instituted it the same year students first stepped foot on our campus. Since then, graduation after graduation has featured a speech requiring a theme centered around those familiar words.
But what if failure is an option? Don’t we have to fail to learn from our mistakes? And if we can’t fail, how are we supposed to learn?
“Failure is an option because it happens, and it’s sometimes a good thing because [failing] is a way we learn,” said Nick Zajicek, Day Creek’s principal.
That means that if Zajicek is correct, our motto is condemning a good thing.
“I teach in my classroom that failure is important and that we learn from our failure, and it is an opportunity to grow,” said Ms. Learmont.
Failure could even be seen as a reward through the learning process or a mistake with growth attached. When did this become a bad thing?
With regular thoughts about failure afflicting students’ minds, pressure and stress is a constant battle. Have you ever heard of atychiphobia? This specific type of phobia is rooted in the Greek word atyches meaning ‘unfortunate’. Those who live with the fear of failure face an unfortunate dilemma.
“I think phobias have a lot to do with the expectations that are set with their standards,” said Ms. Gaines, Day Creek’s school counselor.
Students often crack under this pressure, but what if it’s a mindset issue that could actually raise a fearlessness of error?
Similar to how teachers use practice from writing in class to coaches using scrimmages on a sporting field, there is purpose and value in struggling through the process of growth post-defeat.
“Some students look at our motto and think they are incapable of meeting the expectations of our school,” said Learmont. “It is good to have high expectations, however, we want to make sure the pressure isn’t [causing] unnecessary anxiety,” said Learmont.
The motto risks adding unnecessary stress to students when it shouldn’t. Ironically, seeing failure as an unacceptable option may unintentionally fail a student.
“[Students] freak out when they fail,” said Zajicek.
Many students and staff have the belief that failure is an option, as it allows students (and themselves) to learn new things. So perhaps our school motto is outdated and needs a change.
“I teach in my classroom that failure is an opportunity to grow, so in a way failure is an option if we apply it to a growth mindset,” said Learmont.
Hearing time after time that failure isn’t an option makes it increasingly difficult to recover. Students and staff hear conflicting messages that make it difficult to bounce back from mistakes. Something needs to change.
“When we fail, we must keep going, getting better, and ultimately we [will] succeed,” said Zajicek. It is time that Day Creek learns from its own mistake. Students, teachers, administrators, and our PTSO must come together to bring an end to the motto that failure is not an option.
This story was originally published on The Day Creek Howl on September 18, 2023.
